His Boy
by The-Shy-Quiet-One
Summary: Peter Pettigrew has been captured and Sirius Black has been cleared of all charges. Now he is determined to raise his godson as his dead best friends wanted. Little Potter characters and humor ensues.
1. Freedom

Disclaimer: JK Rowling be so awesome.

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**His Boy**

_Chapter One: Freedom_

Sirius groaned holding his head tightly in his dirty hands. He sat in the corner of his cell on the cold stone floor, a place he preferred since it was furthest away from the door and the Dementors. He also preferred to keep his face hidden in his hands, as it prevented him from having to feel like the four tall stone walls of the cell were closing in on him all of the time, especially in the dim-darkness. The only light coming into the cell was that shining in from the hallway by the crack beneath the door and it only allowed Sirius to make out the shapes of the items in his cell. A toilet in the opposite corner that loved to run over and a ragged pad of a mattress that sat flat on the floor opposite the toilet. The mattress held a holey cotton blanket so dirty dust flew off of it whenever Sirius pulled it over himself and nothing else. No pillow, no sheets.

Sirius spent a lot of time thinking in his cell, having nothing else to do except eat when the food trays came around. He knew other prisoners were in group cells, and they at least, had one another for company. But Sirius was considered a high security prisoner, and therefore, got to spend the rest of his life sitting here in this corner, alone. But he did try to keep himself amused with the happy memories he was allowed to contain… the ones the Dementors couldn't ever swipe away from him.

Sirius would imagine the faces of those he loved the most. Of his dear long lost friends, James and Lily Potter, and of their son, Harry. Especially of Harry, who he knew was alive and presumably well. At least he could always have that little shining ray of hope… that that precious baby boy, who he had watched birthed and whom he had helped raise until the Potters had been required to go into hiding, was still breathing… His little heart was still beating in his chest, despite the attempt to destroy him.

But now, Sirius didn't even know how old Harry would be, he had lost track of the years. At first, Sirius had kept up with the date by writing tally marks in the dust upon the back of the door, but then, after five hundred and seventy three tallies, they had moved him into this cell instead. It was smaller than the other cell, which they had needed to house more than one occupant with the great incoming of caught and guiltily tried Death Eaters after the fall of Voldemort.

Sirius was just pondering over whether Harry still had the toy broomstick he had gotten him for his first birthday when a knocking came upon the door. He glanced upwards, was it dinner time already? They hadn't even bothered to collect his tray from lunch yet… it couldn't be time for dinner. But then, perhaps they were moving him to yet another cell? Or… or… He could barely think it… Or they had decided to administer him the Dementor's Kiss. He gulped, but didn't want to play the part of a coward. He was a former Gryffindor after all. He pushed himself to his feet, standing as tall and as proud as he could manage on his weakened legs. Being stuck inside a cell for years took a toll on one's muscles, he'd found out. He'd always been fairly thin to begin with, but now, he was just skin and bones covered in his prison uniform.

The door swung open and Sirius had to cover his face with his arm to shield his eyes from the light that practically blinded him. It definitely couldn't be a meal time. They never had to open a door for that, just slip the tray through a slot in the door that was sealed shut unless they were giving or retrieving a tray from a prisoner. What did they want then? Surely… They couldn't possibly be giving him the Dementor's Kiss, could they? Not after all this time in the cell…

"Sirius." That voice… it was so familiar and it made Sirius force his eyes to adjust to the light spilling into the cell, illuminated the silhouette of tall, thin figure, his robes sweeping the floor as he strode into the cell towards Sirius. An old bearded face came into view, half moon spectacles glinting in the light.

"Dumbledore?" Sirius asked, his voice strained from disuse and dust. He could not, as much as he tried, keep the shock out of his tone, nor the hopefulness. Nobody had ever visited him in Azkaban before… so there had to be a reason Dumbledore was here. Was he going to oversee the losing of Sirius's soul? "What're you doing here?"

"I have come to retrieve you, Sirius." Dumbledore said kindly, reaching a hand out to shake Sirius's own dirty palm. "You are, as of today, a free man."

"But… how?" Sirius asked, complete confusion exploding in his mind. This had to be a dream, that was it. He'd finally fallen asleep in the corner, or he'd officially gone raving mad at last. There was no way he was ever going to be free of Azkaban. He would spend the rest of his days here, withering away until there was nothing left to him but something even the Dementors would have trouble sucking a soul out of.

"As you will certainly remember, you were placed in here without a trial on the account that you killed Peter Pettigrew and a dozen Muggles in a crowded street full of witnesses as well as gave James and Lily Potter's location to Voldemort."

"I never….!" But Dumbledore held up his hand, silencing Sirius so that he could continue, needing to speak before Sirius could be allowed to do so.

"Last night, Peter Pettigrew was captured, just outside of a little village called Ottery St. Catchpole. He has been living as a rat, in animagus form, as a family pet to one of the Weasley's young boys. Apparently, Peter could not bear another night as a rat and went out into the garden to spend some time as a human. The youngest child saw him out her window and her scream alerted her parents and older brothers who helped capture him. Arthur and Molly recognized him from school and took him straight to the Ministry. He's been taken into custody and admitted to everything under Veritaserum."

"How… how can…" Sirius gaped at Dumbledore, not believing his ears. Could this be true? Could he really… could the world really know now, that he was truly innocent?

"I know it seems impossible. But, Sirius Black, you are officially allowed to step out of these doors and see the light once more. The Ministry was going to publically apologize to you, but I thought you might like some time to recover before they do so." Dumbledore smiled, stepping aside and gesturing to the door, offering Sirius to go first… to leave his cell… to leave Azkaban for the first time in…

"What year is it?" Sirius cautiously stepped foot out of his cell, but the wizard guards did not attempt to subdue him or push him back inside. Instead, they looked somber at the fact that they had helped keep an innocent man locked away.

"Today is the thirtieth of July, nineteen eighty four." Dumbledore provided as he motioned for Sirius to follow him up the hallway, ignoring the jeers and sneers from the other high security inmates who had heard the entire conversation through the cracks under their doors. "You've been in here about three and a half years."

"Oooh ickle Sirius, dear cooooousin." Sirius tried to ignore the crooning of is cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange as her long fingers poked out from beneath the door beside the cell that was no longer his. "Dear dear cousin, take your poor beloved Bella away with you."

"Not a chance, bitch." Sirius stomped on Bella's fingers, causing her to yelp before she laughed quite insanely. He ignored her and traipsed after Dumbledore, up eight sets of stairs until they reached the very top floor of the prison and Sirius caught his first glimpses of sky out of the little windows.

"Padfoot." Sirius was jolted slightly at the familiar voice coming from close to the doors that led out of this horrible place. He turned his attention from the glorious windows to find a shabby looking man staring at him, a wide, but slightly guilty smile upon his friendly face. He took a cautious step forward, but Sirius almost broke into a run. He let out a strangled laugh he had been holding in for years and threw his arms around his best mate, hugging onto him tightly, gripping the back of his robes.

"Moony." Remus nearly stumbled backwards, but hugged Sirius back just as tightly, his eyes closed against the tears of joy and relief that were threatening to fall.

"Sirius, I am so sorry." Remus said as they let go of one another at last. "I should have known better than to think you'd have ever…"

"Forget it." Sirius shook his head, hugging Remus again, his butt wiggling like a dog's did when its tail was wagging the fastest. "If we had been in the opposite positions, I would have thought the same of you. I'm just glad to see you, though, you looked like you've had a rough few moons." Sirius frowned, pulling away from his best mate and looking him up and down.

"It's not as easy to cope with by myself, that's all." Remus gave him a small reassuring smile. "You, however, look awful. What do they feed you here? A diet of lettuce?"

"This place is_ hell_, Moony." Sirius shook his head as they headed for the door, Remus keeping a close eye on him as though afraid he might keel over at any moment."I'm just… incredibly shocked to be getting out, actually. I never thought…" But Sirius was unable to finish his sentence as Dumbledore held the door for the both of them, and Sirius finally got his first glimsp of the outside world.

They were on a rocky island surrounded by choppy, cold looking gray ocean. The sky above them was pure white, a layer of clouds after the rainstorm they had had last night, but that Sirius had been oblivious to. He hadn't heard rain in over three years. It was quite a dismal looking place, but Sirius knew, he just knew, that beyond all of that water… there lay color and the promise of good things to come.

"Dumbledore?" Sirius asked after a minute as they walked towards the special Apparation zone of the island. One could only apparate or disapparated in a specifically marked bunch of rocks, making it more difficult for the prisoners, who did not know the outside of the island well, to escape.

"Yes?" Dumbledore turned to look at him as they reached the little alcove of rocks and entered them, completely surrounded on all sides by the tall gray boulders.

"When… when can I see Harry?" Sirius asked, feeling quite like a school boy again under Dumbledore's classic over the glasses gave. The older man gave a small, sad smile. "I mean… I am his legal guardian, and now that I'm out, it's my responsibility to take care of him."

"You may see Harry when the time comes, but I'm afraid it might not be any time soon. We would first, have to have the permission of his aunt and uncle, whom I'm afraid might not be so willing to allow us to visit, as they are Muggles."

"Muggles?" Sirius asked, perplexed for a moment before it dawned on him. He knew who Dumbledore was referring to. "You can't mean… not Lily's awful sister? But she abhors magic, Dumbledore! That's not…"

"It is the very safest place for him, Sirius." Dumbledore tried to explain, looking older by the second. He had obviously been hoping that these questions would not have come so soon. "There are circumstances in which…"

"Screw the circumstances, Dumbledore! My godson deserves better than a houseful of magic hating Muggles to raise him!" Sirius glared at Dumbledore, outrage all over his gaunt face. "He can't possibly be happy with them, they're probably… probably… trying to squish the magic out of him! Does he really like it there?"

"Mrs. Figg has reported that he is quite content, from my understanding." Dumbledore explained, though Sirius and Remus both seemed a bit apprehensive. They had both met Lily's sister, Petunia, on only one occasion and had not been impressed. She had come with her parents to drop Lily off at her fourth year of school, and Lily had run off in tears because her sister had been shouting all sorts of names at her. Words like 'freak' and 'abnormity'. She hadn't even bothered to come to Lily's wedding, though she had been sent an invitation.

"Who's Mrs. Figg?" Remus asked quickly, wanting to know more but Dumbledore waved him off.

"We need to be going now. We can discuss this further in… safer accommodations." Dumbledore glanced around, as though expecting to see someone entering the alcove of rocks, but there was not a single soul there. He was right though. Just because Voldemort was presumably finished, did not mean that the world around them was completely safe. When discussing things as precious and secret as the Boy-Who-Lived's living arrangements, it was best done in privacy.

"Right." Remus nodded and Sirius looked hesitant, but then nodded as well.

"Where are we going? I haven't a wand, so I can't very well apparate…" Sirius stated, this finally dawning on him. He'd been without his wand for so very long now, that it's mere memory was like a dream, even though he'd had it for a good ten years of his life.

"I have your wand right here, Sirius." Dumbledore dug into one of the pockets of his deep royal purple robes and withdrew a long round stick, polished and looking quite well cared for despite its lack of use. Sirius's eyes widened and he instantly took his wand from Dumbledore, a warmth spreading up his arm at the reuniting of wand and wizard. It was as though he'd been missing a piece of himself and had only just found it again. He gripped the handle tightly, a few sparks shooting out of the end, the wand rejoicing as well.

"Thank you… for not letting them destroy it." Dumbledore smiled back at him and then waved his hand.

"We are going to go to your old family home, Sirius. You both know where that is, but I am not going to speak the name in case anyone is indeed, listening. We must keep it a secret for the time being." The two younger men nodded in agreement. "Off we go then."

The three men twisted on the spot, all of them apparating as one, a loud crack echoing in the sky above them as they did so. They all appeared a moment later in a small square of shabby looking houses. Sirius gave a long sigh, breathing in the air. After Azkaban, even his childhood nightmare would be a welcome sight to him.

Dumbledore and the two younger men approached numbers 11 and 13 of Grimmauld Place and as they did so, number 12 seemed to slide itself out into appearance. Sirius grimaced, but then smiled, noting that none of his evil family would be here. They were all gone and he couldn't even bring himself to be sad about that, they'd been so rotten. The only thing bad about the house would be whatever remained as decorations and furniture. If he was going to be taking custody of Harry, then he would want to give the house a good scrubbing and possibly a makeover.

As they entered number twelve, Sirius grimaced. The place was covered in dust and just as gruesome as he remembered it to be. The old troll leg umbrella stand still stood beside the door and the wallpaper in the long hallway full of pictures frames that looked like they could use a good scrubbing. He groaned and the moth eaten curtains hanging in the hallway flew open.

"FOUL CHILD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU LOATHSOME LITTLE…" Sirius jumped as his mother's voice erupted, filling the air with a shrill angry tone that grated on his nerves. He moved forward and grabbed hold of the curtains, glaring at the portrait. He tugged them closed as hard as he could.

"I forgot about that damn thing." He glared at the curtains. "Dumbledore, do we have to stay here? Moony, why don't we go to your place?"

Remus shook his head, frowning a bit. "My landlord is going through one of her manic fits. It's won't be safe to hang around there until later tonight, after she's worn herself out."

"Your landlord has manic fits?' Sirius asked curiously as he and the others headed down into the basement kitchen to talk some more in private. Presumably about Harry.

"She's half banshee and I've got a really old neighbor bound to kick the bucket sometime soon. It gives her time to find new tenants though." Remus shrugged and gave Sirius a small smile. "I'm sure once it's fixed up though, this house could be grand."

"Yeah, I guess." Sirius nodded, running his hand along the dusty railing of the stairs that led down into the basement kitchen. Remus was right, as usual. With a lot of sprucing up, this place could make a decent home, so long as he could find a way to get rid of some of these permanent sticking charms his mother had a fondness for."Dumbledore, are you going to tell me more about Harry or not?" He asked once they got into the dingy kitchen.

"It is not at all advisable for you to take him away from his aunt and uncle, Sirius. As long as he's there, he's protected in the best way possible." Dumbledore sighed, taking a seat at the table. Sirius and Remus followed suit, Sirius sitting across from him and Remus beside him.

"I can protect him just fine." Sirius banged a hand on the table. "It's what James and Lily wanted, Dumbledore! They'd be completely mad with anger if they knew where their son was right now. I bet you they're rolling around in their graves right now, just thinking that their son is living with that… that… those people."

"It is for the best, Sirius. You must understand, he cannot be taken from his aunt and uncle unless circumstances call for it. If they were treating him badly or-"

"How can you be so sure that they aren't? That woman treated Lily, LILY! The nicest person on the bloody planet! Like absolute vile trash, Dumbledore! Just because she was a witch. What if Harry is going through the same thing because he's a wizard?"

"I'm sure he is perfectly fine, Sirius. The Dursleys have a son of their own who is about a year older than Harry."

"But how can you be sure?" Sirius asked, rising from his chair and pacing across the dirty floor, kicking up dust and causing himself to sneeze. He growled in a very dog like manner and punched the wall, his anger getting the better of him. After all that time in Azkaban, he had some built up emotions that he needed to get out. He gripped his hands into fists, shaking. "I'm sorry. Please, Dumbledore, let us at least check on him to make sure he's being treated right."

"I suppose I could send an owl to the Dursleys and see if…."

"No. No, we can't give them a chance to know we're coming. If they're not treating him right, they could cover their arses by being forewarned. We should just go. Right now." Sirius clasped his hands behind his back, pacing the floor quickly, his mind reeling. "You said it's the thirtieth right?"

"Yes."

"So tomorrow would be his birthday! It's perfect." Sirius nodded, grinning excitedly. "It's the perfect excuse to show up unannounced, not that I care about excuses. We could see him, make sure he's happy…"

"And what then, Sirius? Would you be able to leave him there?" Remus asked curiously, knowing his best friend better than that. "You know you wouldn't be able to."

"If… if he's attached to his aunt… if he's happy…" Sirius sighed, looking quite torn. "Then… I guess I'll have to." He sat back down, knowing what he said was true. Harry would be turning four the next day, and he wasn't about to be the one to tear him away from the only place he'd ever remember as being home, especially if he was pleased and cared for there. "But if he isn't being taken care of properly… I make no promises."

"Understandable." Dumbledore nodded. "I still think we should wait, perhaps, just a few days."

"Dumbledore, I'm not going to make it another hour away from that precious child." Sirius laughed crazily. "But, maybe after dinner. Let's see… I think we've still got a house elf around here someplace…"

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Yay! A new story in the making. Don't worry, the others aren't abandoned, just... in a sticky place. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this and lemme know what you thought!

Love always,

S.Q.O


	2. Rescue

Disclaimer: Characters belong to JK Rowling.

Yes, I do realise there are already a lot of stories like this. But I love them, and this is my version.

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**His Boy**

_Chapter Two: Rescue_

Sirius set down the mug of coffee he had just finished, leaning back to let the warmth soak into his being, enjoying the fact that he could have coffee now as opposed to that weird gritty stuff they served in Azkaban. He was still having trouble adjusting to the idea that he was free now. It seemed like a dream and he would pinch his thigh under the table every now and then just to be sure. But it was real! He was sitting at the kitchen table in Grimmauld place drinking coffee with his best mate and old headmaster. He had even found the sight of the old house elf, Kreacher, to be a welcome one. The house elf had made them coffee and grimaced at Sirius, having never really liked him much to begin with.

"So, I suppose we should be visiting Harry now then." Sirius suggested coyly, rising from his chair and stretching in a very doglike manner. He yawned and picked up his mug, carrying it over to the sink.

"Sirius, it's late. Harry will be in bed, asleep…"

"I want to be there when he turns four." Sirius stated simply, running a hand through his long black hair. He grimaced. "But perhaps a shower first…"

He made his way upstairs to the bathroom on the first landing, groaning at the sight of the snake legged black marble bathtub. He eyed his reflection in the mirror and jumped in shock. Was they gaunt man with the matted hair really him? He reached up a hand and felt his face… He was still handsome, but… he looked… haunted. But then, that was to be expected after spending time in Azkaban surrounded by Dementors who sucked every ounce of hope and happiness out of you whenever they felt it.

Sirius shucked off his prison clothes, feeling the dirt scratch against his skin as he did so. He turned the water on for the shower and gave it a moment to heat up before climbing in and pulling the curtain around the tub. He groaned, his entire body relaxing as years of dirt and grim cascaded off of him and down the drain. His skin was pale, he noted, quite a lot paler than it had been in years. He needed to get some sun, that was for sure.

Washing himself off with the loan bar of soap that rested on the tray on the side of the tub, Sirius could feel the years of Azkaban being removed from his skin, could feel the wonderful lightness again. He rubbed the soap into his hair, scrubbing hard and for a long time, working to get out all of the gross, caked grim. He hadn't even had a chance to comb it in three years, though it used to be one of his very best feature, he thought.

Once he felt clean enough, Sirius stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel about his waist, reaching for the old comb that sat beside the sink. He pulled it into his hair and grimaced as it got stuck against a particularly matted section. This was going to be impossible. He grabbed his wand and prodded the side of his head, muttering an old spell. He felt his hair expand and then watched as it poofed out to the sides, making him look quite demented. He groaned and began running the comb through it again, the worst of the tangles gone now. He noted that it reached past his shoulders… he would have to get Moony to trim it after they saw Harry.

Feeling quite better with his appearance now, Sirius headed back downstairs in nothing but his towel, ignoring the fact that he was quite ribby. "Alright Moony, let's get going."

"Oh, so there was a person under all of that dirt." Remus smiled at Sirius, rising and pulling out a chair. "But don't you think you might want to put on some clothes before we leave? Having wizards in their house will be one thing for the Dursleys. Having one of them almost naked would be quite another."

"Oh." Sirius looked down, as though just realizing he was only wearing a towel. "Right then." He hurried back up the stairs, following them up until he reached the very last landing. Without even bothering to glance at his younger brother's old bedroom door, Sirius pressed open his own.

Everything was the same as when he'd left it years ago at age sixteen, when he'd run away to live with the Potters. His bed was still unmade, his pictures still on the walls, a book he hadn't wanted tossed on the floor. He wandered over to the dresser and tugged it open, expecting moths or doxies to fly up at him, but they didn't. He groped around, pulling out a set of plain black robes. He let the towel drop and pulled the robes on, ignoring the musty smell of disuse. They still fit him, surprisingly. They were even a bit big.

"There. Now we're set?' Sirius asked as he re-entered the kitchen. Remus smiled and gave a nod, but Dumbledore sighed.

"I still would not advise this…"

"We're going whether you want us to or not, Dumbledore." Sirius shook his head. "I need to see my godson. I need to know that he's alright."

"Which I understand, but you also need to take into consideration that-"

"There's nothing more to consider." Sirius pocketed his wand and made for the stairs again, Remus and Dumbledore following after him. "Now, where is he? What's the address?"

Dumbledore held out his arms to both men. "I'll take you there. Just hold on tight." Sirius and Remus each took one of the older man's arms and held firmly as he spun on his heel, apparating right out of the hallway of Grimmauld place.

They appeared on a quiet, lamp lit street. All the houses looked exactly the same, all the lawns well manicured and green. It looked like one of those impossibly safe neighborhoods, where nothing bad was ever known to of happened and anything that did happen was just gossip worthy, as opposed to newspaper worthy. It was too… perfect. Sirius sighed. James and Lily would have wanted Harry to grow up someplace a little more unique than this, someplace safe, but with… more trees. Someplace more magical. There was definitely not a place for a little boy to play on his toy broom around here.

"Dumbledore, is this correct?" Sirius asked concernedly, eyeing the identical houses with a look of disgusting. He turned his head to look up at the street sign above them. It stated that they were on Privet Drive.

"Yes. Number four is right there." Dumbledore said, indicating the fourth house on the left. Sirius made for it, almost breaking into a run in his excitement to see his godson. He was so very close now! "Slow down, Sirius. I think, perhaps, I should go first. "

Dumbledore stepped up onto the front steps first and reached out one long finger to press the doorbell button. Sirius and Remus stood behind him, the dog bouncing on his knees, the werewolf looking more and more stressed out by the anticipation.

…..

Harry was dreaming again. He rolled over on his little mattress in the cupboard under the stairs, whimpering as images flew through his nearly four year old brain. Someone was screaming… and then there was that horrible flash of green light he hated so much. The one associated with the crazy high pitched laughter that could not be described as anything but evil.

"Who the bloody hell could it be at this hour?" Vernon Dursley walked past the stairs for the front door. It was ten o'clock in the evening, much too late for house calls, that was for certain. The large man wrenched the door open and found himself face to face with an older gentleman, his white hair and beard sweeping down past his waist. There were two other men behind him, one of long black hair, the other a very shabby looking mousey brown haired man. They were all wearing robes. "What the bloody hell do you want?"

"Good evening, Mr. Dursley." Dumbledore spoke kindly, with the air of someone talking to a fussy child. He stepped over the threshold without being invited in and his comrades followed him in, shutting the door behind them. "We've come to pay little Harry a visit, though, we know it is rather late."

"What do you want to see that boy for?" Vernon stated angrily, his face growing purple at the mere mention of his nephew. Petunia appeared in the doorway to the living room and gasped as she caught sight of the three wizards in her entryway.

"What is this? What's going on?" She asked, skittering to get behind her husband, peering out from behind him.

"They want to see the boy."

"Where is he?" Sirius asked urgently, stepping forward, ignoring the way the Muggle winced as he did so. "Sleeping up in his room, I hope." He dashed for the stairs, thundering up them without invitation. He moved down the hallway while Vernon Dursley shouted after him.

"Get out of my house you vermin!"

"Please, calm down Mr. Durlsey."

"We just want to see Harry." Remus stated calmly, trying to sooth and failing miserably.

Sirius peeked into every bedroom upstairs, but spotted nothing of interest to him. There was the typical parents' bedroom, a playroom full of toys that looked like they'd seen better days, a sleeping butterball in the next one, and a spare room that looked like it was for guests. But no sign of Harry whatsoever. He came back down the stairs. "Where is he, Dursley? What have you done with my godson?"

"G-godson?" Petunia stammered.

"Damn straight. Now where is he? In here…?" Sirius flitted into the living room, peering around. There was no sign of Harry in this room either. Just pictures of the butterball upstairs. He frowned. Why were there no pictures of Harry here? Surely he couldn't be that blonde, piggy looking child he'd seen upstairs? "What have you done with him?"

….

There was yelling… Harry sat up straight in his bed, groping around the dark cupboard for his broken glasses. He found them and pulled them onto his face, the tape he'd used to mend them scratching at the already irritated skin of his nose. The tape made his glasses stick to his face sometimes, especially when it got hot and he got sweaty. He could hear the voices, they were muffled by his cupboard.

The stairs above his head thundered and he cowered slightly, figuring something bad must be going on for Uncle Vernon to be pounding up them at this time of night. What time was it anyway? He'd been in bed for quite a while… they always sent him straight after dinner, letting Dudley stay up to watch tv after his bath and giving him a snack before he had to go to bed. But Harry had always supposed that was because Dudley was older and he was just Harry, the bane of his aunt and uncle's existence.

"What have you done with him?" Harry blinked, hearing the stranger's voice. Only…. It was familiar somehow. He didn't know from where, but he knew somehow, that he'd heard it somewhere before, and it warmed his little insides. "Where's Harry?"

His name! The familiar voice of the stranger had said his name! Harry bit his little lip, torn between asking to be let out of the cupboard and facing Uncle Vernon's wrath, or staying put. Eventually, curiousity got the better of him. He raised one fist and knocked on the inside of the cupboard door.

….

"What was that?" Remus asked, his sensitive ears picking up Harry's knock. He looked around the hallway, just as concerned for the boy's well being now that Sirius hadn't been able to find him yet. It shouldn't have been so hard to find one little boy, now should it?

"I swear, Dursley, if you have harmed my godson in anyway…" Sirius grabbed hold of the front of the bigger man's shirt, pressing his wand tip against the man's neck. "Tell me where he is, or I swear I'll…."

….

Harry banged on the door harder now, feeling a rising desperate urge to get out of the cupboard and to the voice. He had to know who it was… he just had to. He raised both hands, slamming them as hard as he could against the door. "Lemme out! Lemme out!" Those three words that he had never dared speak before left his mouth before he could stop himself. They were forbidden and he was sure to get a walloping for it, but at that moment, he didn't care. All that mattered was getting to the owner of the voice.

…

"Lemme out! Lemme out!"

All five adults standing in the hallway turned their head to look at the stairs. The little door beneath them was moving, rattling as though something… or someone… was pounding on it. Sirius dropped his hold on Vernon and stooped down in front of the cupboard door, horror on his face. "Harry?" The banging stopped immediately.

"Yes! Harry! Puh-eeeeeeeeeease lemme oooooout!"

Sirius grabbed the latch and pulled it back, tearing the door open and filling the little dark cupboard with light. His gray eyes fell upon a tiny little boy with a shock of black hair, glasses over his emerald almond shaped eyes. He wore blue footed pajamas covered with fluffy clouds that looked as though they had seen better days. Without thinking, Sirius reached his hands in, but Harry flinched away, scared now.

Harry looked up at the man, fear all over his little face. He was torn between being afraid of the man and getting out of the cupboard, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter. The man grabbed him up and pulled him out of the cupboard. Harry whimpered, quite certain he was going to get it for making such loud noises. But the man didn't hurt him.

He hugged him.

Sirius gripped Harry tightly to him, placing a hand on the back of his head instinctively, having not held the boy since he was a baby. He closed his eyes, burying his face against the little boy's shoulder, breathing him in. "Oh Harry."

Harry burst into tears, not sure what to make of this strange form of affection he'd never really experienced. Nobody had held him unless it as to hurt him since he had learned how to walk. He wrapped his tiny arms around the man's neck and held on for dear life, his legs moving to wrap about the man's torso, not wanting him to let go. He smelt funny… but… strangely familiar. Almost like a scent he had forgotten to smell until just now. His tears calmed.

"You have two extra rooms upstairs, and you kept him under the stairs?" Remus looked livid, and Sirius could see the wolf in his eyes now.

"How dare you! He's a child, not a… a… broom!" Sirius yelled, outraged. He felt Harry tense up, and rubbed a hand over his back, snuggling him closer, trying to reassure him. "Shhhh, Prongslet. Right. We're leaving. You're never allowed to see Harry again. As his legal guardian deemed by his parents' will, I'm taking him. If you so much as try to stop us, I'll blow your house up with you in it."

Sirius spun around, marching past Dumbledore, Remus, and the awestruck Dursleys. "Remus, get his things."

"Right." Remus nodded and burrowed down into the cupboard, searching around for the things the boy might want to keep. He found a stuffed bear, or at least he thought it was a bear… it didn't have a head, but left it. There was nothing in here worth taking, not even in little boy standards.

Harry felt the balmy summer night hair hit his face and he opened his eyes, looking back through the open door of number four curiously. Never see his aunt and uncle again? Take him? He blinked, turning his head to look at the man who had finally, at last, come to whisk him away from this terrible place. Was this a dream? No… it couldn't be. It was too…. Real.

"If only I had known sooner." Dumbledore sighed, looking quite guilty as he shut the door behind him and Remus who was carrying nothing but the blanket Harry had been left on the doorstep in three years ago. "I am so sorry."

"Dumbledore, you couldn't have known. It was the only option anyway, Remus wouldn't have been able to take him." Sirius shook his head, stroking Harry's messy hair affectionately. He couldn't believe he was holding his godson at last! He was so much bigger than the last time he'd seen him, though thinner than he would have liked to see him. "Heya Harry."

"Hi." Harry stated simply, his eyes wide with the shock of it all. He still didn't really understand what was happening, nor why they were leaving number four, but adults didn't like it when he asked questions, so he kept his mouth.

"You probably don't remember me, Prongslet, but I' m your godfather, Sirius." Sirius explained kindly, carrying the little boy down the street towards the spot where they had apparated to. It was the safest to appear and disappear out of the sight of Muggles. "But you always just called me Padfoot."

"Padfoot." Harry frowned, the name slipped awkwardly from his tongue. He couldn't remember having ever said it before.

"Well, it was more like 'ahdut' when you were a baby."

"I knowed chu when I wassa baby?" Harry asked curiously, hugging tighter to Padfoot, though not wanting to stop looking at him. He wasn't like any man Harry had ever seen before in his life. His hair was long and his face was slightly sunken, but he had a kindness in his gray eyes that even the four year old noticed. It was weird, but he felt… safe in this man's arms.

"That's right." Sirius beamed at him, flicking some of that untidy black hair out of the boy's eyes so he could see him better. "Your mum and dad were two of my very best friends." He watched as the boy's eyes grew so impossibly wide they were almost perfect spheres.

"You knowed my mummy and daddy?" Harry couldn't believe it. No one ever talked about his parents before. All he knew about them was that they had died in a car crash when he was very small and that was why he lived with his aunt and uncle.

"Yep." Sirius smiled, rocking Harry back and forth slightly as they walked. "But we can talk more about that tomorrow. For now, I think you'd better get back to sleep." Harry yawned and shook his head, but rested his head down on Sirius's shoulder. He was quite sleepy.

"I not sweepy."

"Yes you are." Sirius grinned as Harry's eyes closed tiredly and he was out like a light. It would be easier apparating with him now. He hadn't wanted to go over explaining the whole process so late at night.

The three men and little boy apparated away, appearing seconds later back at Grimmauld place. Harry was still asleep, completely unaware of the world around him, except that it was warm and he was comfortable sleeping against the man's shoulder. Sirius carried him inside the house, deciding that they would either have to redecorate or move. He figured moving might be the best option. He had enough gold in his vault at Gringotts, being the only Black left he'd inherited everything when his parents had died. Afterall, Harry deserved to live someplace better than this old heap of crap.

"I should be getting back to the school. I must write a letter to the Ministry to explain the boy's new living accommodations. They have to be informed. I trust that you will be fine?" Dumbledore asked and Sirius nodded as he headed up the stairs.

"We'll be alright. I'm just going to take him up to bed. Moony, you can stay in my room if you'd like. I don't think Harry needs to be seeing bikini clad Muggle girls when he wakes up."

Remus laughed and followed them up the stairs, bidding Sirius a goodnight on the second landing. Sirius carried Harry into one of the cleaner and least sinister looking bedroom there. It had been his and Regulus's playroom when they were younger, converted into a guest room when they had both become school aged. Sirius sat down on the bed, kicking off his shoes and laying back. He pulled the covers up over him and Harry, who lay on his chest now. He didn't want to let go of the boy just yet, not only when he'd just gotten him back. He held his godson close as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Hehe! I hope you liked it! I just love Sirius and wittle Harry. Lemme know what you thought, I would love to know.

Lots of love,

S.Q.O.


	3. Morning

Disclaimer: Like previously stated, characters and some places belong to the lovely, the awe inspiring, the magnificent, JK Rowling.

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**His Boy**

_Chapter Three: Morning_

Sirius yawned the next morning, opening his eyes and feeling a strange weight upon his chest that he didn't recognize. He stared upwards in shock at finding himself not in his cell in Azkaban, but rather in one of the old guest rooms of his old family home. That meant that… He looked down and his entire face lit up with the brightest of grins at the sight of the sleeping child on top of him. Harry's hair was even messier than it had been the night before, his little glasses crooked against his face, hands clutching the front of Sirius's robes tightly.

Not wanting to wake the sleeping little boy, Sirius very carefully sat up and shifted Harry down onto the bed. He rose then, pulling the covers up over the precious child, kissing his little scarred forehead gently. He tiptoed his way over to the door, opening it slowly and silently cursing it as it creaked. Harry stirred, but did not wake. Sirius heaved a sigh of relief and slowly let the door close with a tiny click.

"Morning Sirius." Remus yawned, coming down the stairs. "How's Harry?"

"Still out." Sirius whispered and then pointed to the house elf heads hanging along the wall. "I think we should probably work on getting rid of some of this junk. It's bound to give him nightmares. We can stow it in the attic and get rid of it properly some other day."

"Agreed." Remus nodded, making a face as he grabbed hold of the closest plaque de elf head and pulled it down off of its hook. He and Sirius made quick work of it, pulling all of the elf heads down and levitating them up through the trapdoor on the third landing. Once finished, they stood back to admire their work.

"What are we going to do about your mother's portrait though? We can't unstick her and if he's noisy…"

"We'll just have to try and keep him quiet." Sirius frowned, tugging the last of the hooks out of the wall to make it look more presentable. "At least we got the elf heads down. Those were the worst of it. I'm thinking I should start looking for a house soon though. Something in the country, where he can run and learn Quidditch. That suburb looked like it sucked all the fun out of life."

…

Harry rolled over, snuggling down under the comfy covers. He was having a very nice dream and he didn't want to wake up yet. He sure hoped his aunt didn't come to get him for breakfast soon, he wanted to keep dreaming.

In his dream, there was nothing but the face of a man with kind gray eyes, holding him tightly and keeping him safe as they walked. It just kept repeating itself over and over in his head and he never wanted it to end. He buried his face deeper against his pillow, wishing to sleep forever just so he could see that man… the one who would whisk him away from this terrible place at last.

"Bollocks!" Harry groaned as the shout came from out in the hallway. He didn't want to wake up yet, whatever had angered Uncle Vernon this early in the morning was bound to make him take it out on Harry. "Ouch!"

Harry opened his eyes and shot up straight. This definitely wasn't his cupboard. He was laying in a bed bigger even than the one Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had and twice as squishy feeling. Curiousity overcoming him, he threw back the covers and slipped down onto the floor carefully, it was quite a ways down for him. When his feet hit the wooden floor, the bed was taller than him. He stared at it in awe before padding his way over towards the cracked open door, wishing to investigate but not be seen. How could he be so sure that the person yelling wasn't going to get mad at him?

He peeked his way out the door and his little heart fluttered with pure excitement. The man from his dream was here! He was holding his hand and looking at his fingers as though he'd hurt himself, and when Harry looked closer, he could see blood oozing out of the man's pointer finger. There was also another man there, with brown hair and not as tall as the first one.

"Knicked myself on the damn tack." Sirius winced, putting his finger in his mouth to try and relieve some of the pain. The door behind him and Remus creaked and they both turned their heads in time to see a flash of blue.

Harry ran away from the door and back around to the other side of the bed, scared. Maybe he wasn't supposed to be up yet and that's why the man was yelling? He grabbed the edge of the bedspread and pulled, trying to hoist himself up. He made it halfway when the blanket gave out and he fell, landing hard on his bottom. He bit his lip, trying not to cry because it really hurt.

"Good morning, Pronslet." Sirius smiled, flopping down on his stomach on the bed and grinning down at the boy. He frowned when he found Harry's eyes watering and immediately reached his arms down, pulling the four year old up onto the bed and into his lap. "What's wrong? Did you fall?" Sirius snuggled him close, stroking back the boy's hair.

Harry nodded, sniffling slightly and rubbing a fleecy blue sleeve under his nose. He didn't want to cry in front of the man. Uncle Vernon had always gotten mad at him when he cried, he wasn't supposed to cry.

"Well, you're alright now." Sirius said kindly, tickling the boy's tummy and giving him an extra hard snuggle. Harry giggled a little bit, wriggling away from his hand, but still quite tenser than a normal four year old would have been. Sirius noticed, but he didn't say a word. It was something they would have to work on, with the way he'd seen Harry had been treated, he figured it was going to take a while before the boy would be able to trust him completely. He reached down and straightened out Harry's glasses, frowning at how they had been taped together to fit. Why were they broken in the first place? He wasn't going to ask, but he was definitely going to be taking Harry to St. Mungo's to have his eyes checked out and maybe get some new glasses that fit him better. This pair looked like someone had picked up a cheap set of reading glasses from a dollar store. "Would you like some breakfast, Harry? I know I do."

"Yessir." Harry nodded shyly and Sirius lifted him up onto his hip as he rose from the bed.

"I'm Padfoot, or Sirius, remember Harry?" Sirius asked, wondering if Harry knew what had happened last night or if it had all been like a dazed haze to him like it almost was to Sirius. Harry nodded, gripping tightly to his godfather's robes as they left the room and headed down stairs. Sirius made sure to pass the hallway quickly, not wanting to wake the portrait of his mother, and hurried down into the basement kitchen where he put Harry on a chair. "You sit here, and we'll see what we've got around here to eat. Hmmmm…"

Sirius began rummaging through the cupboards, not really finding much of anything that would make a good breakfast for anyone but a ghost. "Well, it looks like we should probably do some shopping. But that's alright! We can just go out for breakfast today. It is a very special day, you know Harry."

"It is?" Harry asked before he could stop himself, he quickly covered his mouth with his hands and closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the blow to come, waiting to be told that asking questions was against the rules. But it never came. Instead, he felt himself being lifted up off the chair and spun around. He opened his eyes.

"Because, Prongslet, today is your fourth birthday!" Harry's eyes widened with shock. He'd known that today would be his birthday, but he hadn't known anyone would actually remember it. He'd never had anyone actually tell him his birthday was special, like Dudley's always was. "And we're going to celebrate."

"I… I never getta birdday." Harry said in absolute wonder, his eyes still wide behind his broken glasses. This man… this Padfoot… was so… so nice. He couldn't believe this was really happening. So far, he'd woken up and already had the best day of his life because no one had yelled at him, and he'd even been snuggled and here he was, in the arms of someone who actually seemed to care about him.

"Never get a…. Well, Harry James Potter, you are in for a treat then. We are going to have the biggest, best birthday celebration day you've ever had in your entire life, how about that?" Sirius felt rage welling up inside of him for what the Dursleys had done to his godson. Never had a birthday party? Never in his life had he heard of something so ridiculous. How could anyone deprive a child of something as sacred as a simple birthday celebration.

"Yeah!" Harry beamed, hugging Padfoot around the neck tightly, unable to believe his luck. Things were just getting better and better and he knew he'd probably wake up sometime soon, but if he never did, if he could stay dreaming like this forever, he'd be perfectly fine with that.

"Moooooooo-nnnnnny!" Sirius called before he trotted back up the steps. He was quiet in the hallway, not making another noise until they reached the third landing, Harry bouncing along on his hip. Remus poked his head out of the bathroom, a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. He withdrew it, smiling.

"Ah, good morning Harry! I didn't know you were up already."

Harry hid his face against Sirius's shoulder and Sirius gave him a little bounce. "It's alright, Prongslet. This is Moony. He was best friends with your parents too."

At the mention of his parents, Harry peeked up at Remus and gave him a small, shy smile. "Hi. It's my birdday."

"Yes it is, happy birthday!" Remus grinned and came out of the bathroom, leaning up against the wall. "So, what're the plans for today? We're doing something special, right?"

"Right. Well, I was thinking, we could get somebody cleaned up a bit…" Sirius prodded Harry gently in the tummy and the boy gave the smallest of giggled. "And then we could go out to breakfast because we haven't gone grocery shopping in a while. And then I was thinking we could do a little shopping for Prongslet here. He needs clothes and toys, and probably a new pair of glasses that don't rub so much, right Prongslet."

Harry hesitated but then nodded quite eagerly. He could use some glasses that didn't rub… Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had always told him his glasses were fine though and to just live with the rubbing. And clothes of his own that hadn't already been Dudley's? Was that even possible? Did they make clothes his size? All of these questions and a few others flitted through the little boy's mind as Sirius took him into the bathroom, set him on the toilet, and started the water for the tub. He picked up a bottle of soap and squirted it into the tub beneath the faucet.

"That all sounds like a great idea, Padfoot." Moony smiled, rinsing off his tooth brush and placing it in the holder beside the sink. "I'll find him something to wear while you give him his bath." He left the room, leaving the door open in case Sirius needed his help with anything.

Harry watched curiously as the bubbles began to expand out of the water, a foaming wall of white. Dudley usually got his bath first, but the time he was done and it was Harry's turn, the water was usually cold and the bubbles were flat, making the water milky looking and not nearly as much fun as it could have been. He leaned forward on the toilet, peering into the tub, wanting a closer look. Sirius turned off the tap and lifted him up off the toilet and set him to stand on the floor. He helped him off with his footed pajamas and then lifted him into the tub, noting a few bruises that looked like somebody had whapped the boy on the backside with a belt, but he didn't mention it to Harry. He'd have him checked out better at St. Mungo's, he decided.

"How's the water, Prongslet?" Harry sat down in the tub, the water up to his waist, surrounded by bubbles up to his chest. He looked up at Sirius, his glasses fogging and Sirius laughed, reaching out to remove them for him.

"Warm." Harry stated after a few seconds of deliberation. He had never had a warm bath before, and it felt strange, but nice to be submerged in a tub of hot water.

"Good. Well, let's wash you up and then you can play for a bit if you want. We'll have to get you some toys for the tub later as well. Can you think of any kind you would want?" Sirius lathered his hands up with soap and began scrubbing Harry's hair. The boy was already fairly clean for a four year old, but after hearing what a neat freak her sister was from Lily, Sirius wasn't the least bit surprised. Harry tilted his head back, knowing how to keep the soap from getting into his eyes.

"Um… a… a… a boat?" Harry asked, closing his eyes and waiting to be yelled at. But Sirius just chuckled.

"What kind of boat? A sailboat or a speedboat?" Harry deliberated for a few moments. No one had ever asked for his opinion on anything before, and had always discouraged him from speaking it. What if he made the wrong decision and Padfoot got mad. Gentle hands smoothed back his hair, lifting a cup to rinse it with, one of the hands blocking his eyes from the onslaught of soapy water.

"A… sailboat?" Harry asked, not wanting to get it wrong and get in trouble.

"Then a sailboat it is!" Sirius smiled and rinsed the boy's hair a few more times before he was satisfied that all of the soap was out of it. He kept a happy outer appearance, but inside he was wondering what could have happened to make Harry so indecisive, to make his answers questions as opposed to the solid answers a four year old should make. Had the Dursleys not let him say what he wanted? He was almost positive they hadn't. From the way Harry acted, it was as if he was completely bottled up about how he felt. Sirius didn't like it, but he'd help him come out of his shell more if it killed him. He wanted Harry to be happy and not scared to express himself… like his parents had been. "You know Harry, when I ask you a question, I want you to answer it with what you think."

"But…" Harry frowned, not really knowing how to respond to that. He dropped his voice, mumbling to his lap. "But what if I answer wrong?"

"With me, you can never answer wrong." Sirius stroked the boy's cheek, planting a kiss on top of his head and rising from the floor. "Alright Prongslet, we've got a busy day a head of us and I think it's time to get going. You can play in the tub tomorrow. Up please." Harry stood up and Sirius lifted him out of the tub with a towel, wrapping it around him tightly and setting him down on the floor, helping him dry off.

"Here we are!" Remus reentered the room, brandishing a small pair of green overalls and a white t-shirt. "I found these in the old nursery, Padfoot, I think they were probably Regulus's, but they should fit Harry. They were the only things not moth eaten though. Or… completely out of style."

Sirius laughed, remembering the old getups his mother used to push him and his younger brother into years ago in understanding. "They're fine. We're going to get things Harry will want to wear today, anyway, right Prongslet?" Harry nodded, hoping his agreeing with Padfoot was alright. He didn't want to get into trouble.

Sirius helped Harry get dressed (he got a little confused with the hooks on the overalls) and then Remus came back brandishing a pair socks and a pair of little shoes that looked to be about thirty years older than Sirius and they helped him tie them onto his little feet. While Harry was in the bathroom going potty, Sirius and Remus were in the bedroom, discussing matters.

"I don't think we should take him to Diagon Alley just yet. It might be overwhelming if anyone recognizes him." Remus suggested, pulling on his own shoes. "We can probably just stick to Muggle London for now and introduce him to magic slowly so as not to frighten him."

"You're right, as usual." Sirius nodded in agreement, fumbling with the knotted laces of his old school trainers. He did not want to wear the shoes he'd had to wear in Azkaban. He'd seen enough of them the past three years at it was. "If you don't mind, I'd also like to speak to a real estate agent about getting a house in the country. Harry's bound to go exploring eventually, and I don't want him seeing most of what's in this place. He'll have nightmares."

"I bet we can talk to the witch who helped me find my flat. She's very nice. I'll give her a call and set up an appointment for this afternoon if I can. Maybe Harry will want a nap after lunch, small children usually need one. I could probably stay here and watch him while you meet up with Debbie."

"Alright then, thanks Moony." Sirius clapped his friend on the back and rose from the bed as Harry entered the room, fussing with the straps on his overalls again.

"Padfoot? I… I think I need help." Harry said softly, tangled in his straps. Sirius reached down and helped him straighten them out, buckling them properly and lifting Harry up into his arms. He loved holding the boy, knowing that he was here with him, safe a sound where he belonged.

"All better. Alright Harry, it's time for breakfast. We're going to take the underground and find a place to eat." Sirius, Harry, and Remus made their way downstairs and out the front door of number twelve, making sure to stay extra quiet in the hallway. Harry had caught on rather quickly that it was a place where one shouldn't make noise, though he didn't know exactly why.

Once outside, the trio of young men walked the couple of blocks it took to get to the underground station. Harry had never been on the underground before, and when he spotted the train, he got rather excited, but nervous as well. He clung to Sirius tightly, watching it pull into the station, the doors opening to let a river of people out. Harry didn't think he had seen so many people in one place in his entire life. Whenever the Dursleys had gone out, he'd been left with the babysitter, Mrs. Figg, who had a lot of cats but was nice to him. She usually showed him pictures of all her cats, alive and dead, and let him watch her soap operas with her while they ate lunch that usually consisted of peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches that Harry enjoyed greatly.

Sirius boarded the train, keeping a firm hold on Harry as he did so, not wanting to drop him in the pushing and shoving of the other people trying to get on the train all at the same time. He took a seat and let Harry peer curiously out the window, his eyes wide as the doors closed and the train started moving. Remus sat down beside Sirius, leaning back against his seat as though the train was just a normal everyday thing for him.

Sirius looked down at Harry and had to smile at the look of stunned excitement on the little boy's face. He made a mental note to get the boy a toy train as well as a sailboat. Harry climbed off of Sirius's lap and onto the seat beside him, standing up to get a better look out the window.

"Oh my goodness, he's so cute! Is he your's?" The woman sitting across from Sirius asked and Sirius couldn't help but beam proudly. The woman seemed very nice, with slightly frizzy brown hair. She had a little girl sitting beside her with a child's book in her lap.

"Yep. He's my godson, actually, but he's fully my responsibility. " Sirius gave Harry a prod and the little boy turned his attention from the train moving to his godfather. "Say hello, Harry."

Harry looked at the woman his godfather indicated and gave a very small smile before noticing the book the girl was reading. He had seen that book before, at his pre-school. He particularly liked the pictures because they were of dragons and they popped up, but he had never had the words read to him before. He tugged at Padfoot's sleeve, pointing to the book, whispering. "Padfoot…"

"Yes, Harry?" Sirius looked down at him and Harry bit his lip. He wanted to ask so badly, but… what if he got in trouble? He took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly, whispering again.

"Can we get that book too?"

"Huh? You like the book?" Harry nodded and Sirius smiled, patting his head affectionately. The little girl looked up from her book, having apparently heard. She slid down off of her seat and held it out to Harry.

"Would you like to read it with me?" She asked sweetly, climbing up into the chair beside him as Harry took the book and gazed down at the pictures excitedly.

"My Hermione is only four, but she's learned how to read earlier than most children. She just adores books." The woman said proudly, moving to sit beside her daughter.

"I am four." Harry said, ponderingly. He'd been three yesterday, but today was his birthday, so that meant he was four now, just like his new friend. He grinned at Hermione and she grinned back, turning the book to the first page and reading it aloud for him. Sirius watched as Harry became absolutely enraptured with the book and made another mental note to pick up some books as well as toys.

"I'm four and three-quarters." Hermione stated ever so proudly, turning to the next page where the dragon in the story popped up breathing fire. The train began to slow down and Sirius looked up, noting that they had reached their stop.

"We have to go now. It was very nice meeting you." Sirius smiled and lifted Harry up onto his hip while Remus rose.

"You as well. Bye bye, Harry." The woman waved and Harry waved back as they got off the train to join the line of people heading up the stairs. He could see the little girl waving to him from the window of the train and kept waving back at her over Sirius's shoulder until the train was out of sight and they came out onto the street.

"And now, let the birthday celebrating, begin." Remus laughed as they made their way down the street, searching for the perfect little place to get breakfast.

* * *

Here you are! YAY another chapter already. I'm really enjoying writing this story so far, because little Harry is so imcredibly adorable and lovable I think. Lemme know what you think of it, I love hearing for you whether it be to critique my writing, flame me, or give me praise. I make an effort to respond to each and every one of my reviewers and if you don't get a response, well, I most likely just got distracted and forgot.

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	4. Bonding Time

Disclaimer: Characters belong to JK. Rowling.

* * *

**His Boy**

_Chapter Four: Bonding Time_

"So, what would you like to eat, Harry?" Sirius asked as he slid into the booth next to the little boy and Remus sat down across from them looking amused. They'd finally found a cute little diner like place that seemed kid-friendly. The waitress set down a little packet of crayons and a kid's placemat for Harry, making his eyes widen at the idea of being able to color while he ate. He looked up at Sirius who opened the box of crayons and spilled them out onto the table. "Go for it."

Harry beamed, scribbling in the hair on the ballerina, making it red. Sirius picked up a menu and looked it over. "Hmmm, Prongslet… there's a lot of good stuff in here. Why don't you have a look and see what you'd like to eat." He propped the menu up and Harry peered at it curiously. He looked up at Sirius questioningly. "You can get anything you want for breakfast."

"Um…" Harry frowned, looking at all of the colorful pictures inside the menu, not quite sure what to choose that wouldn't get him in trouble. "I… dunno… Padfoot." He bit his look, trying to look apologetic but Sirius just wrapped an arm around his shoulders and hugged him close to his side.

"Well, what do you normally eat for breakfast?" Remus asked kindly, trying to make it easier for the indecisive little boy.

"What Dudley doesn't eat firsts?" Harry asked, looking down at his coloring. He picked up the green crayon and began giving the lady in the picture pretty eyes. Sirius looked up at Remus who shook his head, not knowing what to say. The very idea of Harry having to wait and see what his cousin didn't eat for breakfast was positively absurd.

"Well Harry… Dudley isn't here, so you get to pick. Hmmm… how about you pick either eggs, waffles, or a muffin today? Is that easier?" Sirius asked, trying to make it so Harry wouldn't feel so overwhelmed with the amount of choices on the menu. Harry frowned for a moment before looking back up from his coloring, still biting at his little lip.

"Wabfles?"

"Waffles it is then. You know Harry, they make some pretty special waffles here, I bet you'll really like them." Sirius smiled, grinning as he looked at the menu. The waitress came back over with two coffees and a glass of milk, setting them down on the table. Sirius ordered while Remus helped Harry open his straw, showing him how to blow the paper off of it. Harry laughed, blowing the paper off of his straw and across the table.

The food came not much later, Harry had almost finished coloring in his picture when he plate of waffles was set down in front of him. His eyes widened, turning into orbs of absolute shock and delight at what sat before him.

Somebody had cut his biggest waffle into a square and then cut a smaller square inside of that, two slices of bacon laying length wise beside it. Four tiny waffles sat in a row beneath the big waffle and the bacon, making wheels. An orange slice sat vertically above the bacon, emitting whipped cream steam.

"A train!" Harry just about squealed, admiring his breakfast with pure joy. He just about clapped his hands together, but thought better of it, not wanting to get in trouble. He looked up at Sirius and Remus, his mouth gaping. "Padfoot… Moony…. A train!"

Sirius laughed at the boy's excitement and he wasn't the only one. Those closest to their booth were smiling at the well behaved and apparently very happy little boy. "I told you they were special waffles, Prongslet. Now eat up."

Harry gladly picked up his fork and went at it. Eating the train was even more fun than looking at it. He grinned up at Sirius, his face covered in the syrup Remus had poured onto the waffles for him and bits of orange pulp.

Sirius grinned and tickled the boy. "Chuggachuggachuggachugga…."

"Choo-chooooo!" Harry laughed, squealing and wriggling around in his seat as he was tickled. He rather liked Padfoot and Moony. They were so nice to him… and they had gotten him train waffles. He decided he really liked trains, riding them and eating them.

After they finished their breakfast, Remus took Harry into the bathroom to help him wash off his face and hands while Sirius paid. Remus decided it was also a good time to make sure Harry went to the potty before they continued on their daytrip. They didn't need to have any accidents later on just because they couldn't find a bathroom.

Once they left the diner, the trio of wizards traveled a few blocks until they found the shops they were looking for, the first being a clothing store specifically for children.

Harry gazed around at all of the clothes in wonder. He had never known such places existed, always having been stuck wearing Dudley's old hand me downs. Sirius got a cart and lifted him up, placing him in the child's seat so that he could keep a good eye on him. They headed for the boys' section and Sirius picked up a tiny blue t-shirt, holding it up to his chest. "What do you think, Harry? Will it fit me?"

Harry giggled and shook his head. "No, too lil' for chu, Padfoot."

"But just right for you!" Sirius grinned at him, holding the shirt up to Harry, just to be sure. He nodded, satisfied that it would fit the boy and noted the size before placing it into the cart. "Let's see, what's your favorite color in the whole wide world, Harry?"

Harry thought about it for a minute, his face screwing up with concentration. He'd never been asked that question before… what color did he like best? "Red." He decided finally, nodding to himself. "Like da lady's hair."

"What lady?" Sirius asked, looking around the shop. He didn't see a single red headed woman in sight and he looked to Remus who shrugged.

"Da lady…. She comes to my dreams sometimes." Harry explained, biting his lip. The Dursleys had never liked it when he mentioned his dreams to them… he'd always been yelled at for it. Every once in a while he'd have a dream about the same lady, the one with the red hair who held him close and rocked him while she sang a sweet song that he could no longer hear.

"Oh!" Remus's eyes widened and he ruffled Harry's hair. "Sirius, he means Lily." Sirius whacked himself in the forehead with the palm of his hand.

"Of course! Harry, the lady with the red hair is Lily. Your mum." He explained simply, stroking Harry's hair gently.

"My mummy had red hair?" Harry asked curiously, his eyes lighting up at the thought of knowing something about his mother that he didn't already. Actually, he didn't know anything about his mother except that she was gone and never coming back because she'd gotten into a car crash with his daddy. At least that was what his aunt had told him, right before she'd told him not to ask questions. But Padfoot and Moony seemed to like it when he asked questions.

"Yes, she did. She was very beautiful and she had green eyes, just like your's. But other than that, you look every bit like your dad." Sirius explained, pushing the cart in between two racks of shirts. He grabbed up a red one with a green dragon on it in Harry's size, knowng without asking that the boy would approve of it.

"Just like my daddy?" Harry asked, lighting up even more, his little chest puffing out with pride at the idea of looking like his father.

"Exactly like him, only his eyes were hazel." Remus picked up a little pair of jeans that had an easily undoable snap button and set them in the cart. If anything was too big or too small, they could always magic it to fit when Harry was sleeping. "I've got pictures back at my flat that I could pick up and bring round later so you can see them properly."

They continued their shopping, getting plenty of day clothes Harry could play a rough as he wanted in while the little boy occasionally gave input when asked. For the most part though, he was lost in his own little world of thinking about what his parents looked like now that he'd been told. When they got to the pajamas he was broken out of his stupor by all of the fun prints. He helped Padfoot and Moony pick out three pairs of pajamas. Red ones with trains, blue ones with stars, and green ones with more fire breathing dragons that made him think of the book the little girl on the train had been reading. Which reminded him….

"Padfoot? Are we gonna get dat dragon book?"

"We'll see if they have it at the toy shop." Sirius nodded and Harry smiled at the idea of it. He'd never had any toys or books to call his own. The only toys he ever got to play with were the ones Dudley had already broken and didn't want anymore unless his mother had decided to throw it out. Then he would throw a tantrum until he got to keep it, making the toy room and Dudley's bedroom impossibly full of broken old things. Aunt Petunia had had to throw things out while Dudley was sleeping to make room for anything new after a while, only taking the most broken toys that were deepest in the piles of mess.

"Well, I think that's everything we need here." Remus said after they had found Harry a good pair of sneakers and red rain boots that matched the rain coat they'd picked out earlier. They headed up to the front of the store and paid for everything. They left the shop, carrying bags of little boy clothes and heading up the street to the toy store. Remus left them, taking the bags of clothes and saying he had a few things to take care of but that he would meet them back at number twelve later on, winking to Sirius.

Harry's eyes grew big at the sight of all of the magnificent things and it was all Sirius could do to keep a hold on one of the boy's hands at all times. Harry didn't have any desire to run off, he just wanted to get a closer look at everything. He'd never seen so many wondrous toys in his life… new and unbroken toys that Dudley had never played with.

They spent quite some time in the toy shop, letting Harry get his heart's fill of looking and admiring. Sirius was quite surprised that he wasn't asking for a single thing, he just seemed perfectly content to look and a bit shocked when Sirius placed a plastic sailboat into the cart. He figured his godfather must have made a mistake. "Padfoot… why did chu put the boat in the cart?"

"Because you wanted a boat for bath time, didn't you?" Sirius asked a little confused as to why Harry was confused. He reached for a yellow rubber duck, gave it a squeak and then dropped it into the cart. Every kid needed a rubber ducky for his tubby time.

"I really getta boat?" Harry said, awestruck as he watched to duck go into the cart as well. He looked up at his godfather with wide eyes, unable to believe this was really happy. He would have been perfectly happy just looking at the toys, but being able to take them home with him… to that house where Dudley wasn't? That was a whole other story.

"You really get a boat. And a duck." Sirius nodded, kissing Harry's head and peering around. "Aha! And here's something else I know you'll like." He held up a colorful wooden train and watched as Harry's eyes bugged out of his head. He set the train into the cart. With the Black family fortune to his name, plus the Potter's small fortune Harry had inherited, Sirius was going to get the boy whatever he desired… within reason. He didn't want to spoil him, but at the moment, he couldn't help it. Harry had had so little for so long and every kid needed clothes and deserved toys. He wanted Harry to at least have some things to play with. He chose out a few other things such including some wooden building blocks and an airplane. Harry himself, chose a lion out of the wall of plush. They even managed to find the dragon book Harry had wanted along with a couple others Sirius thought he might enjoy. He would have to remind himself to find that old copy of Beedle the Bard tales he knew had to be somewhere in the house, if his mother hadn't thrown it away like most of their childhood books and toys.

"Did you enjoy our trip?" Sirius asked, looking down at Harry who was walking alongside him on the sidewalk, holding tightly to his hand as Sirius carried the bag of toys in his other hand. Harry had his other arm wrapped tightly about the floppy golden lion he'd picked out. He looked up and smiled, nodding. "We'll go again sometime, then. Not every day or week, mind you."

"Yes, Padfoot." Harry grinned at him and hugged his lion closer to keep it from slipping out of his arm. He yawned, his pace slow, a happy smile on his face. Sirius lifted him up onto his hip, holding onto him with one arm. They stopped to grab some sandwiches and eat lunch at a little deli nearby to the underground station before continuing on their way.

Harry made it almost all the way through the train ride back to their stop, but Sirius ended up carrying the sleeping four year old off of the train and up the stairs to the street. Harry's head snuggled against Sirius's shoulder contently, his lion still gripped up against his chest by one arm that wasn't about to let it go.

Sirius set the bag of toys down on the doorstep of number twelve as he unlocked the door and picked it back up as he headed inside, closing the door behind them as quietly as possible. He hurried up the stairs and entered the bedroom he and Harry had slept in the night before. Sitting down on the bed and setting the toys down on the floor, Sirius shifted Harry, laying the little boy down against the pillows, smiling at the way he snuggled against them and buried a hand into his lion's mane. Sirius removed Harry's shoes and glasses gently, not wanting to wake him up from his nap. He pulled out his wand and tapped the boy's glasses, watching as the tape flew off and they mended. Now they wouldn't rub. He placed his wand tip against the boy's raw nose and said another spell, smiling as he watched the scrapped part of the boy's nose heal right up. He pulled the covers up over him, tucking him in tightly.

"Out like a light." Remus whispered as he stepped into the room. Sirius placed a finger to his lips and the two men snuck out of the bedroom, leaving the little one to his nap. Sirius shut the door behind him. "I talked to the real estate agent. She has space available right now if you want to talk to her about finding a house. She's really good."

"You'll watch Harry?"

"Of course I will. I promised, didn't I?" Remus smiled. "I've been working on getting the kitchen cleared up and such for his little party this evening. Dumbledore is going to come and Hagrid as well, but I figured that would be enough, we don't want to overwhelm him. Hagrid said he also wanted to return your old motorbike."

"Sounds perfect. Did you get a cake?" Sirius smiled, thinking of both the little party and his motorcycle that he had missed quite a bit in his time in Azkaban.

"Yeah. With a treacle topping. If he's anything like Lily, he'll love it and if he's like James, well… the rest of it is vanilla. And I've got it all decorated with balloons and streamers. It'll be a real birthday party."

"Great! Thanks a lot, Moony."

"Not a problem. You had better get going though, don't want to keep Debbie waiting. You can just floo straight to her office. It's Daisy Wizard Realty."

"Alright… I'll see you in a bit then." Sirius nodded, making his way down the stairs.

"Good luck." Remus called after him, careful to keep his voice low still. He didn't want to accidentally wake up Harry from his nap.

…

Harry yawned, sitting up in the now familiar bed, rubbing at his eyes. Somebody had taken his glasses off… He reached for them, pulling them on and blinking. He took them back off. Were these really his glasses? The tape was gone and they weren't broken. Maybe Padfoot or Moony had glued them back together for him? He would have to remember to thank them when he found them. He slipped out of the bed, his socked feet padding across the carpet, carrying is lion with him. He had decided to call him simply 'Lion', thinking that that would be a perfectly good name for a lion after all.

Spotting the bag of toys on the floor, he hesitantly dug into it, searching for that dragon book he'd wanted so badly. Finding it, he gave a squeal of delight and sat back on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed and opening the book in his lap. He basked in the glory of the brightly colored dragons that popped up from the page, not a single one of them scary looking. There were some books that made dragons scary, but this one always had them smiling or having tea.

Harry was so into his new book that he did not notice when the door opened and Moony entered, smiling down at him. He sat down beside the little boy who looked up and didn't even flinch as he was lifted into the older man's lap. "Did you have a nice nap, Harry?"

"Mhmmm." Harry nodded, grinning up at him and then turning his attention back to the book. He was quite enthralled with it, which made Remus smile. Children should always be exposed to books, he thought, it was great for them and their future reading skills.

"Would you like me to read it to you?"

"Oh! Yes puh-ease, Moony!" Harry bounced excitedly, turning to book back to the first page and Remus began, his finger trailing along the lines of letters, pointing to each word as he spoke it. Harry leaned back against him contently, letting Moony turn the pages but taking his own turn at making the pieces in the pop ups move after Moony showed him how.

"Again?" Harry asked pleadingly once the book was closed and finished. Remus laughed, looking down at those big green eyes and opening the book back up. They got halfway through it when Sirius came prancing into the room, waving a piece of paper in his hand.

"I found it, Moony! I found it, Harry!" He swooped down, scooping Harry up and dancing about the room with him after he dropped the piece of paper to show Moony.

"Five bedroom, two bathroom, cottage on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole, a part wizarding community. It looks great Sirius…" Remus commented, looking down at the picture of a very pretty cottage surrounded by a garden and trees. "But what do you need five bedrooms for?"

"One for Harry, one for me, one for you, one for guests, and one we'll make into a playroom for this little rascal." Sirius stated simply, tickling Harry as he danced about the room to silent music.

"Ah… one for me?" Remus asked curiously, looking up at his best mate and favorite child. "Sirius I…"

"I already talked to your landlady. She's willing to let you out of the lease on your flat early and you're coming to live with me and Harry and that's that." Sirius said firmly, flopping down on the bed with the little boy in his lap. "Let's face it. I can't take care of Harry all on my own, I'm going to need help. And he likes you already. Besides, your flat sucked. It'll be fun, just us bachelors."

"I… I don't know what to say." Remus said, his eyes glued to the beautiful cottage he was going to be moving into with his best friend and Harry. He rose from the floor and hugged Sirius. "Thank you. But what about…"

"There's a shed a little ways into the back woods. We can reinforce it easily and make it perfectly safe. Wait til you guys see it, it's even prettier than the picture. Look Harry…" He picked up the sheet of paper and showed the little boy. "This is our new house. You get your own bedroom and a room to play in with your toys, how about that?"

Harry beamed, not knowing how to respond to the idea of having his very own room. He had only ever known the cupboard… to have his own room… well… it was a completely foreign concept for the four year old to process.

"I think… I hear our guests downstairs." Remus said after a moment, his head perking up. "Harry, we've got another special surprise for you little man."

"What is it?" Another surprise? Harry had gotten so many surprises today he couldn't even count them all. First he'd woken up in this new place that was kind of scary looking, but his Padfoot and Moony were here with him. And then he'd gotten a bath with warm water and bubbles. Then there had been the train ride and the train waffles and shopping for clothes and toys. The idea of a new house that was better than this one they were in at the moment… what more could they possibly have in store for him?

"You'll see." Sirius scooped Harry up and they left the room, the four year old clutching to his lion. They headed down the stairs and all the way to the basement kitchen. Sirius covered Harry's eyes as they went down the last set of steps. He removed his hand when they reached the bottom.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" Harry gasped, his eyes growing wide behind his glasses. The room was covered in red streamers and floating balloons. Five steaming bowls of something sat on the table, a small sticky golden cake in the center. Two men were sitting at the table, waiting for them.

The first man had a long white beard and hair even longer than that. His blue eyes seemed to twinkle as Harry was set down into the chair beside him. Harry stared at him, remembering him… he had been at the Dursley's the night before when Padfoot and Moony had come to rescue him.

The second man was humongous and a little bit scary. His face was covered in a mess of dark brown beard and he wore a strange furry suit with a big yellow polka dotted tie. He was so big, Harry thought he might be some sort of giant. But his eyes twinkled as well, with kindness as he looked at Harry.

Nervous, Harry slipped out of his chair and into Sirius's lap, deciding that he'd much rather be where he felt safe than in a chair of his own. Sirius wrapped his arms around him reassuringly. "Harry, this is Professor Dumbledore, and Hagrid. They knew your parents too. "

"Las' time I saw ya, ya didn' even have all yer teeth." Hagrid beamed lifting his spoon to eat now that they were all there. Harry smiled shyly, looking down at Sirius's bowl. It was full of strange lumpy yellow liquid. Sirius pulled Harry's smaller bowl over, handing him his little spoon.

Harry lifted some of the soup to his mouth and found that it was full of corn, chicken, carrots, and potatoes. He chewed at it. "Mmmm…. Padfoot." He didn't know what it was called, but he liked it… even if it did have vegetables in it. Dudley always hated eating his vegetables, so Harry usually ended up with them. He didn't mind though, they weren't nearly as bad as Dudley made them sound.

"You like your chowder, Harry?" Dumbledore asked kindly and Harry nodded, grinning through a spoonful of the delicious meal. "The kitchens at the school I work at made it special for you. They don't have much to do during the summer, because there aren't any students around."

"Thank chu." Harry whispered, looking down at his lap shyly. He had figured out that Padfoot and Moony were ok, they weren't going to get mad and hurt him so long as he was careful, but he didn't know what to make of these strange new men.

"You are very welcome."

The wizards ate their chowder, the adults doing most of the talking and laughing. Sirius was glad to be back among people he cared about, it was so much better than being locked away in a cell. Remus seemed pleased to be there as well, he didn't get out much. And Harry was just happy to have had such a good day. He even slid back into his own chair without complaint.

"Alright Harry, cake time!" Remus rose and lit the four little candles sitting on top of the cake. He pushed it in front of Harry who's eyes grew, the firelight from the candles shining on his glasses. He'd never in all of his life, had his own birthday cake. "Remember to make a wish first."

Harry nodded and closed his eyes, thinking really hard. Finally deciding that what he wanted more than anything else in the world, was to be able to stay with Padfoot and Moony forever. He took a deep breath and the candles went out. They all clapped and Remus served the cake.

Harry's mouth exploded with delight as he tasted his first bite of the cake. It was sweet and the best thing he had ever eaten. He beamed brightly, eating away slowly, wanting to make it last. He lifted a big piece to his mouth, lost his grip on his fork, and watched in shock as it fell to the floor. He quickly looked to see if any of the adults had noticed, but they were all still engrossed in their conversation. Harry slipped down off of his chair and snatched up his fork from underneath the table. He stood up quickly… too quickly. His head banged off the table with a loud thud. Dumbledore's glass, set quite close to the edge, fell to the floor and shattered. Harry looked down at it, his lower lip trembling. This was bad.

"Harry!" Sirius shouted in shock, startling the young boy. Harry burst into tears, rubbing at the top of his head.

"I…I…I am s-s-s-soooooorry, P-padfoot!" Harry collapsed down onto the floor away from the glass, covering his head with his arms, waiting for the yelling to start. He was going to be in so much trouble now… Uncle Vernon had hated it when he dropped his fork on accident… but breaking things was absolutely forbidden. He'd get a spanking with the belt for that and so much time in his cupboard he usually missed the entire day's meals.

"Oh Harry…" Sirius bent down, wedging his hands beneath the little boy's arms and lifting him upwards, pulling him tightly to his chest and smoothing back his hair. He could feel a little bump forming on top of the boy's head. "You banged your head pretty good there, huh? I bet that hurts." Harry nodded, his eyes glued to the floor. Sirius followed his gaze to where the shattered glass lay. Dumbledore had already bent down to begin clearing up the pieces without magic. Nobody wanted to overwhelm Harry by pulling out a wand. "Well, that's quite a mess."

Harry nodded in confirmation. It was a big mess… and now Padfoot probably wouldn't want him anymore because he had broken something. He was sure of it. Padfoot would send him back to the Dursleys… So much for his wish. He sobbed harder, unable to stop, his little heart breaking. "P-puh-ease dun gib me back to dem!" He whimpered.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, surprised. What could possibly be going on in that child's head?

"I…I… I'll be good. I pomise!" Harry said even more desperately, his little chest heaving. He was practically hyperventilating with pure panic at this point. "Dun take me back to da Dursleys." He whispered, shaking fearfully. He gripped the back of Sirius's shirt tightly, clinging to him.

"Take you back? Harry, we're never ever ever taking you back there." Sirius hugged him tighter as Remus worked on making an ice pack out of some of the ice from his drink and a napkin. He handed it to Sirius who placed it on top of Harry's head.

"But… I was bad." Harry said confusedly, his tears beginning to slow as well as his breathing. He sniffled, rubbing at his eyes as Sirius rocked and shushed him. He could feel the pain ebbing away from his head, being replaced with a sort of cold numbness .

"No, you weren't." Sirius shook his head, hating the Dursleys more and more with every second. What had they done to his godson, his sweet little boy? "You didn't break the glass on purpose, it was an accident. Even if you were naughty on purpose, we'd still keep you."

"Chu w-would?" Harry sniffled again and Sirius picked up a napkin, clearing off the boy's running nose.

"Yep. Like it or not, mate, you're stuck with us forever, no matter what happens. You're our little Prongslet."

Harry smiled big then, hugging Sirius around the neck and burying his face against his neck. He had never fit with the Dursleys, and this new feeling of really truly belonging to someone… it was so wonderful. This was his real home. The place where he felt the safest, right here in Padfoot's arms.

"Well, I think that's enough excitement for one day." Dumbledore smiled, rising from his chair. He'd magicked the floor clean while Harry had been distracted. "It was very nice of you to invite us to your birthday party, Harry. Oh yes…" Dumbledore reached into his pocket and pulled out one small parcel and another larger one. He handed the small one to Harry and the bigger one to Remus. "The cloak, for when he's older."

"Go on Harry." Sirius gave him a little bounce and Harry unwrapped the little package. Inside was a small golden ornate box. He tugged it open to reveal two small figurines dancing with one another. One was a red headed woman, the other a black haired man with glasses. A pretty little tune chimed as Harry watched them dance. "Oh hey… it's your mum and dad, Harry."

"Thank chu very much!" Harry smiled at Dumbledore brightly and the old man nodded his head. Hagrid stepped forward, offering Harry a lumpy package. The little boy set the music box on the table and took the package from the large man. He tore it open and squealed as a great plush dragon appeared. He hugged the green thing tightly. "Thank chu!"

"That's a Welsh Green." Hagrid smiled back at him brightly. He and Dumbledore said their goodbyes, wishing Harry happy birthday a couple extra times and then left.

Sirius carried Harry up stairs to the bedroom that had become his temporarily until they could move into their new house. Remus followed, carrying the music box. He set it down on the bedside table.

"I'm going to head home and start packing. You have a good night, Harry. Good night Sirius."

"Good nigh', Moony." Harry grinned at him.

"Night Remus." Remus left the room, closing the door behind him.

Sirius helped Harry into his train pajamas before they snuggled up in the bed to read the dragon book again, Harry clinging to both of his plushies tightly. Harry yawned, rubbing at his eyes as they finished the book. Sirius got up as Harry sank down against the pillows. He pulled the covers up to the little boy's chin, tucking him in tightly and kissing his forehead. He removed the boy's glasses and set them to the side, next to the music box. "I've got a few things I've got to do, but I promise I'll be right here when you wake up. You can call for me if you need anything, alright? I'll just be down in the kitchen."

"Alright." Harry nodded, too sleepy to argue or feel afraid. He yawned again, snuggling down. Sirius reached over and winded up the music box, opening it. He smiled as it emitted light in the dark room. The perfect present indeed. Harry rolled over, his eyes watching his parents spin in circles happily. Sirius rose from the bed and made for the door. Harry looked up. "Padfoot?"

"Yes?" Sirius asked, turning his head to look at the little boy.

"I love you." Harry bit his lip, not sure if he should say it. He knew what it meant, having heard it a lot whenever Aunt Petunia was talking to Dudley. Sirius smiled and strode back over to the bed, brushing Harry's hair back from his forehead affectionately.

"I love you too, Prongslet. Now you go to sleep. We've got a lot of things to do tomorrow, like get you some new glasses that fit better."

"Ok." Harry nodded and gave a happy sigh, closing his eyes. He was loved… at long last.

* * *

This chapter turned out way longer than I had originally planned, but I love it. It took longer to write as well because I kept squeeing. Lemme know what you thought, I would love to hear from you!

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	5. CheckUp

Disclaimer: You know the drill. Not my charries.

* * *

**His Boy**

_Chapter Five: Check-Up_

"Hey buddy, time to wake up." Harry groaned as he was prodded in the side and opened his eyes. Light was streaming in through the windows of the bedroom he was in. He looked up to find Padfoot leaning over him, how long black hair tickling his little face. He giggled and poked Padfoot in the cheek, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. "Good morning!"

"G'mornin'." Harry yawned. He'd had a particularly lovely night's sleep thanks to the calming song and light from the music box. Credit was also to be given to his two plushies, the lion and the dragon, and the bedtime story he had been read. He reached up, wrapping his little arms around Sirius's neck as the man hoisted him out of bed and into his arms for a good snuggly hug. Sirius kissed his cheek before blowing against it, making quite the funny farting noise. Harry laughed and squirmed, having not known cheeks could make noises like that.

"Well Prongslet, let's go have some breakfast. I've made us up some eggs, do you like eggs?" Sirius asked curiously, hoping he did. He knew both James and Lily had liked eggs, though James had always wanted his scrambled with cheese and Lily had preferred hers fried with runny yolks. Harry nodded brightly. He did like eggs when he had had a chance to eat them, though he didn't really know much beyond the scrambled kind.

Sirius carried Harry down to the kitchen and set him down in the usual chair. It was a bit higher up than the others, making it easier for the little boy to see over the table. Harry grinned, sitting up and digging his fork into the plate of scrambled eggs with cheese, looking up at Sirius as he chewed.

"Would you like juice or milk?" Sirius asked curiously, opening the fridge.

"Juice." Harry said after some thought, biting into a piece of buttered toast that as on his plate as well. He was quite pleased with his breakfast, though nothing would ever be better than that train made of waffles he had had yesterday.

"Alright, juice it is!" Sirius grinned, carrying over the carton of orange juice and pouring it into Harry's little glass. Remus had had the idea before he'd left the night before to shrink a couple of cups and plates so that they were more Harry sized. He'd also put an unbreakable charm on them, in case there were any more accidents. Harry took up his glass and sipped at the juice happily.

After breakfast, Sirius gave Harry another bath, letting him play with his new boat and duck for a while before he had to get him out and dressed for the day. Harry sat on the bed, wrapped in a big fluffy towel as Sirius sorted through the bags of clothes they had gotten him yesterday. He found the red dragon t-shirt and a pair of shorts with a plain elastic waist, easily for a four year old to remove should he have to go to the bathroom really bad. He helped Harry put them on as well as a pair of socks before searching for the sneakers they had gotten.

"Padfoot?" Harry asked hesitantly as he watched the pile of clothes on the bed grow bigger. "Can… Can I wear my boots?"

"Your boots?" Sirius sat up, pulling one sneaker out of the bottom of the bag. Harry nodded, pointing to the red rain boots sitting on the floor beside Sirius's knees. Sirius blinked and then laughed, tossing them up onto the bed. "Sure. D'you want to wear your conductor's hat as well?" He asked kindly, holding up the striped cap. Harry nodded as he tugged the boots onto his feet. They were much easier to put on than sneakers. One, no laces. Two, they had handles on each side for him to grab and tug with. Sirius plopped the hat down on Harry's head. Harry grinned up at him from beneath it. Even he knew that a conductor was the person who drove a train.

Sirius couldn't help but grin at the mismatched little boy standing so proudly in front of him. He was quite a sight to behold, but he wasn't about to say no to letting Harry wear what he wanted. It was a bit too sunny and hot out for the boy to be wearing his rain boots, but the hat would help keep the sun off of his face. Besides, the fact that he was expressing himself instead of trying to look for the right answers when it came to his clothes felt good. There was trust there, as Harry smiled at him. Pure and simple trust that somebody wasn't going to yell at him for wearing what pleased him and not having to match, though, to Harry, he did match. Both his boots and shirt were red after all. "There, we're all set. We get to have another ride on the underground together."

"Oh!" Harry bounced a bit, looking delighted at this news. He just loved the underground. He grabbed up his lion, hugging it to his chest. After thinking for a moment, he grabbed up one of his new books, hugging that as well. If they were taking the underground, then maybe he would get to see his friend again and he could share his book with her like she'd shared with him yesterday. He had never had anyone to share with before, Dudley had made sure of that. If his cousin had caught Harry playing with any of the other children in their pre-school, he had immediately bullied the child away from Harry, leaving the little bespectacled boy to play by himself most of the time after only three days in the school.

"All set then?" Sirius asked with a smile, reaching down to scoop Harry up and put him on his hip. He just could not get enough of that fresh from bath little boy smell that meant this child was all his. Harry had smelt different as a baby, but there was still just a tinge of baby-smell to him that he hadn't managed to outgrow yet. It reminded him of happier times, with James and Lily. He was trying to keep to the routine they had established for their son when he was little. Unlike most kids, he had been given his baths in the morning, because then he would be clean at the start of the day, rather than just at night. There had always been a bedtime story and a lullaby that Lily sang shortly after dinner and nap time had been right after lunch. After one whole day with the boy, the scheduled was already meshing.

Harry struggled to hold onto both his book and lion at once, trying to keep one in each hand. With his lion it was easy, he could just dangle him over Sirius's shoulder and hold tight. But the book was harder. It was much more slippery and thinner than his lion's tail. Sirius, noticing his effort, took the book from him and held on to it. Harry snuggled against him, pulling his lion up and hugging him closer.

They headed down and out of number twelve, walking the couple of blocks to the underground station. Harry got more and more excited the closer they got to the station, his little eyes wide with glee at the very idea of riding the train again. His eyes went to where he knew the train would pull up when they got down into the station and squirmed about, eager to get through the turnstile and to the platform.

The train came wooshing up the tunnel and Harry leaned forward in Sirius's arms to watch it come. As it slowed to a stop in front of them, Sirius nearly lost his hold on him, he was wriggling around so much. He wanted to get on that train. As soon as the doors opened and the tide of people flowing had had slowed, Sirius carried Harry onto the train. He walked down the aisle, the little boy looking every which way.

"'mione!" He squealed as he caught sight of his friend. "Padfoot… Padfoot!" He pointed to where Hermione and her mother were sitting. The little girl looked up from the book she had today and waved, tugging at her mother's sleeve to get her attention.

"Well, good morning, ladies." Sirius smiled, sitting down in the seat one over from Hermione and letting Harry slip down into the one directly beside her. Harry took his book from his godfather and pressed it at Hermione.

"I bringed dis. Can we read it?" Harry asked excitedly. Hermione's eyes widened at the sight of the book. It was full of dinosaurs, something that every four year old on the planet was easily taken with.

"Oooh yes!" The pair of them opened the book, one half of the large book in each of their laps. Harry ran his finger under the words as Hermione read, copying what Remus had done last night, though he didn't always point at the right word, not seeing anything but rows of letters just yet.

"Good morning." Mrs. Granger smiled down at the children. "Hermione wouldn't stop talking about her new friend yesterday. We were hoping you'd be on the train this morning."

"We were hoping the same." Sirius laughed, ruffling Harry's hair through his hat, but the boy was quite intent on the book. "We've got to go have a check up, right Harry?"

Harry nodded, knowing he should answer, but too involved with learning about what Hermione had said was a T-rex to be interested. "Right, Padfoot."

"Oh, now that'll be fun, Harry!" Mrs. Granger smiled. "Has he had his teeth cleaned recently?"

"Er…. No, but I suppose that'll be next." Sirius nodded, making a mental note to remember to talk to the Healer at St. Mungo's about Harry's teeth. He wanted to be sure everything was ship shape with his godson. Actually, he couldn't remember having had Harry brush his teeth at all in the past couple of days… they'd have to work on that.

"It's very important to start oral hygiene early on. That way he learns good habits…. I'm a dentist." Mrs. Granger explained simply, digging into her purse. She pulled out a card and handed it to Sirius. "My husband and I have our own office up on Chandler Kip Street. We would love to have a look at Harry's teeth. The work number on there works for the office hours listed, but if there's an emergency, our home number is on there as well."

"Oh! Great, thanks." Sirius smiled, taking out his wallet and slipping the card into it where it wouldn't get lost. He couldn't remember if the Healers worked on teeth, he was fairly certain they did. But it would always be nice to have a back up, not to mention a phone number in case he ever wanted to try and schedule Harry a play-date in the future. Harry and Hermione seemed to get along quite well, not to mention they both seemed to have taken the liberty of having some say in their outfits. Hermione also was wearing a pair of rain boots (what was it about them that attracted children?), but hers were blue with green polka dots and clashed with the frilly tutu and butterfly wings she also had on. The train was slowing again. "Well, this is our stop. Say bye, Harry."

Harry frowned, looking torn between going with his godfather and continuing sharing his book with his friend. "We gonna ride da train tomorrow too, Padfoot?" He asked curiously, hoping the answer was yes.

"Probably not, we're moving into our new house later today, remember?"

"Oh… " Harry's frown grew and he looked at Hermione longingly. If they were moving, would he ever see her again?

"Don't worry, we'd be more than happy to have you over to play sometime, isn't that right Hermione?" Mrs. Granger asked, stroking her daughter's hair. The little girl nodded. Mrs. Granger looked up at Sirius as he pulled Harry up into his arms. "Have you gotten a new number where we could reach you?"

"Oh, yeah." Sirius nodded, digging into his pocket. He'd written down the information about the house on a slip of paper that he would need for St. Mungo's. He found a pen and copied it down on a blank bit of the paper and then tore it off, handing it to Mrs. Granger. "Here it is. Give us a ring anytime. Even if we can't manage to get a play-date, it'd be great for Harry to have someone his own age to talk to, right Harry?"

"Mhm!" Harry nodded brightly, squirming. Sirius put him down and he climbed back up on the seat, wrapping his arms around his little friend. "I love my friend." Hermione hugged him back delightfully and then Harry and Sirius left the train, Harry waving over his shoulder at his little friend. He quite liked having a friend, even if he didn't get to see her all of the time.

The two wizards made their way up to the street, walking in the other direction than they had yesterday, away from the shops. Harry had taken to hiding his face in Sirius's shoulder, the amount of strangers around them causing him to get a little bit anxious. He'd decided he didn't like strangers very much at all. What if they were like his aunt and uncle?

"Alright then, Prongslet." Sirius set the little boy down. They had stopped in front of a dingy old shop front, a manikin in the window. "Now, this, is going to be something different, so I don't want you to get scared ok? And stay quiet until we get inside." Harry nodded, having no clue what he was going on about. Sirius had figured he would introduce Harry to magic slowly, and what could be slower than a manikin just nodding it's head? Besides, he'd feel better once Harry knew about magic, surely his aunt and uncle had never mentioned it. And the kid needed to see a Healer. "I have Harry Potter here for his appointment."

The manikin nodded and gestured them forward. Sirius watched as Harry's eyes grew to the size of small salad plates and took the kid's hand, dragging him right on in through the window.

Harry was boggled. First a moving manikin and then they were walking through a window? When they emerged, they were standing in some kind of large lobby. Everything was very white and polished. A woman sat behind a large desk, dressed in a minty green dress type thing. At least, to Harry it was a dress. Sirius led him towards the desk, hoisting him back up into his arms. "Padfoot?"

"That was magic, Harry." Sirius explained, trying to make it as simple as possible. Harry's eyes got even bigger than they already were. He knew what magic was. It was the stuff of the fairy tales his teacher at pre-school had read to them, though not so much after Aunt Petunia had complained, saying they didn't want the boys exposed to such nonsense. Harry had always enjoyed the fairy tales immensely though. But… if they had just seen magic, then that meant it wasn't all nonsense, right? He looked at Sirius in confusion.

"Aunt Petunia said magic is not real." Harry explained, looking around himself now. "But you're magic?"

"Yes, I am. I'm a wizard." Sirius nodded, stroking the little boy's hair. "Your aunt lied to you. She knows magic is real. Her sister, your mum, was a witch and your dad was a wizard." Sirius didn't think Harry's eyes could have gotten wider than they already were, but he was wrong. The green orbs in Harry's head were practically bugging out of their sockets at this point. "Which means you're a wizard too."

"But I can't do magic." Harry frowned shaking his head. How could he be a wizard if he couldn't do magic. Sirius just laughed, plopping the kid's conductor had back onto his head.

"Sure ya can. You probably already have and just didn't know it. Have you ever made things happen that you had idea how you made them happen?"

"I…" Harry wracked his brains, trying to remember if he'd ever done something like that, but was almost sure he hadn't. And then it hit him. "Auntie cut my hair once and it looked really yucky. But when I waked up it was all better and she was so mad at me." Harry shuddered, remembering the belting he'd gotten for that one plus the extra day in his cupboard where he'd wet himself and gotten in serious trouble for that as well. He didn't know why he'd gotten in trouble though, it wasn't as if he could make his hair grow. It did that on it's own, didn't it?

"That was magic, Harry!" Sirius beamed, hugging him. "This place we're in, is a hospital for wizards and witches. You're going to see a Healer and have a check-up."

"Ok." Harry nodded, not sure what a check-up was really. He knew Dudley had them sometimes, but he always cried and screamed when he had to go to them. But then, Dudley screamed and cried at just about anything when he didn't get his way. He was magic though! Magic! He beamed, his eyes not so wide now and when they reached the desk with the lady behind it, he gave her a heart melting smile that would have turned even the strongest of men into putty.

"Hi there." Sirius smiled, repositioning Harry to his other hip to give the other one a break. "We're here for an appointment for Harry Potter." Harry watched as the lady's eyes strangely got a little big and she stared at him with curiosity, her eyes flitting to his forehead, though he wasn't sure as to why. Was it his lightning scar he'd gotten as a baby?

"Yes, yes…." The woman rifled through her papers and brought out a packet. "Children's ward is up on the third floor. Fill these out in the waiting room and then give them to the woman there. Have a nice day, Harry!" Harry blinked and smiled back at her as they left, giving her a wave.

"Have a nice day." He repeated, watching as her smile grew. Sirius carried him up four flights of stairs, going through a door on the fourth landing. Harry's eyes were assaulted with bright colors. Just about every color in the big crayon box Dudley had. It was much better than the white room that head been downstairs. Sirius sat down in one of the chairs up against the wall and shifted Harry into the one beside him so he could fill out the forms. Harry looked around curiously.

There were other kids in the room with their parents and they were all playing with toys, reading books, or bawling their eyes out. Harry wondered if they were all here to get a check-up as well. He looked up at Sirius, but a different question left his mouth. "Can I play too, Padfoot?"

"Sure, go right ahead." Harry grinned and slid off of his seat, wandering over to where a brown haired boy (who also wore rain boots) was stacking blocks. He sat down across from him and watched for a minute as the boy worked on building his tower as high as it would go before it fell. He looked up at Harry after a minute and offered him a block. Harry took it and they began building together.

"Are you here for a check-up too?" Harry asked curiously, placing a flat red block on top of a green one. The other boy nodded.

"My Gwan brings me every year for a check-up. I'm Neville and I'm four, what's your name?" Harry grinned at him brightly.

"I'm Harry. I'm four too." Neville smiled back and satisfied, they continued with their building. They managed to get the tower tall enough that they had to stand to get the next blocks on, but it teetered and crashed to the floor after a minute.

"Neville Longbottom?" Someone called and Neville looked up. An older woman came and picked him up.

"It's your turn, Neville."

"Bye Harry!" Neville grinned at him, waving as he was led away for his check up. Harry figured that since Neville didn't seem scared of having a check-up, he wouldn't be either. He liked Neville a lot better than he liked Dudley anyways.

Harry stayed and built with the blocks for a bit, but soon wandered back over to Sirius who had reached the end of the forms. He climbed up into his chair and leaned against his godfather's arm, his legs swinging back and forth happily. "Padfoot, I think I made a new friend."

"Did you now?" Sirius asked, looking down and smiling at his godson. His expression turned to confusion after a moment though. Were his eyes going, or did…

"Mhm. Neville! He likes building blocks too."

"Harry? Is that one of Hermione's boots you're wearing?" Sirius asked, pointing down to Harry's feet. The little boy's left foot had one of his shiny red boots on it, but his right foot had a shiny blue boot with green polka dots on it. Harry looked down at his feet and then grinned up at his godfather.

"We traded cause we has the same size feet. See?" Harry took off both of the boots, holding them up to show Sirius who took them. Sure enough, they were perfectly the same size. Sirius handed them back to Harry who pulled them back onto his feet using their handles. How that pair of children had pulled that over on both him and Hermione's mother he may never know. He supposed it must have been while they were talking.

"Well, I don't know if Hermione's mum will like that very much. We should probably call them later to let them know you guys traded."

"Ok." Harry kept grinning. Hermione had said her mum wouldn't mind, and besides, they were her boots, not her mum's. Harry had agreed, liking the idea of having two different boots. He did adore his red boots, because they were his absolute favorite color, but he'd been intrigued by the polka dots on Hermione's. Sirius finished the paperwork and carried it over to the witch behind the desk. She took it, looked it over, and then began filing it away.

"Harry Potter?" The room suddenly hushed completely as the Healer called for him, though Harry couldn't understand as to why. Sirius lifted him up and hurried to follow the Healer behind the double doors, not liking the way every eye had turned to stare at his godson.

The Healer led them down a long hallway colored in yellow and into a small room that was quite friendly despite its sterile appearance. There was a mobile of dragons hanging from the ceiling, a couple pictures of funny looking animals, and a large measuring stick against the wall with a dragon at the bottom of it. Sirius set Harry down on the padded table and the little boy swung his legs, looking up at the mobile with interest.

"Good morning, Harry." The Healer smiled as she closed the door behind her and flipped a couple pages on her clipboard. "It's lovely to see you. The last time you were here, you were just about a year old. And now look at you! What a big boy you are."

Harry beamed proudly, his chest puffing out with delight at being called a big boy. This lady was nice, and Padfoot had brought him to her, so she had to be ok, right? "I am very big."

"Yes, you are." The Healer smiled and set her clipboard down on a counter beside a small sink that stood in the opposite corner of the room beside a couple of chairs. "Alright then, Harry, if you could just hop down take off your boots and your hat so I can see how tall you've gotten." Harry did as he was told, slipping the boots off to reveal his little white socks and jumping down off of the table with a little bit of Sirius's help. He stood in front of the dragon and measuring stick as he was told, watching as the lady checked how tall he was and writing it down.

The Healer had him do a whole bunch of fun things, like seeing how long he could hop on one foot for and holding his back straight as he could was he walked along a line of tape on the floor. She used a funny tool to look in his ears and up his nose (which he thought was quite silly) and a strange lighted stick to look down his throat. She listened to his heart beat and had him breathe two different ways before she let him listen to Padfoot's heart. She'd shone her light in his eyes and given his glasses a tap with her weird stick, making them shrink to a child friendly size. When he'd put them back on, he could see so much better than he had before. Then she'd had him stand on a scale so she could see how much he weighed. She poked and prodded him, hemmed and hahed, and even checked the bruises Uncle Vernon had given him on his backside. He didn't think he liked that part too much.

"You can put your boots back on now Harry and play with this while I talk to your godfather, alright?" Harry nodded and tugged his boots on before taking the cool tool she had listened to his heart with from her. He wanted to see if his lion had a heart beat too.

Sirius and the Healer moved to the opposite corner, the Healer sitting down at a desk and Sirius in a chair. "Well, he's quite a bit underweight for his age, so you'll have to make sure he's eating enough. Lots of fruits and veggies, and plenty of whole milk to make sure he's getting the calcium his bones need. I don't like the looks of those bruises at all. They've healed up some, but they still look awful. Do you know how he got them?"

"He hasn't said, and I didn't want to pressure him by asking. I've only had him since the night before last. One of them looks kind of like the buckle on a belt though." Sirius shook his head.

"That's what I thought as well. I want you to take this balm and give his bruises a rub before bedtime every night. That way they heal up a bit quicker than they are and it'll relieve some of the pain. It'll also give you a moment where he's thinking about them and might tell you how he got them in the first place. He's obviously been neglected, so I also think you should tread very carefully. Try not to raise your voice when he's naughty and just give him a time out in the corner. After that, you should hug him and remind him that you love him, but that you would like it if he would try to not be naughty."

"He's actually been something of an angel, which is weird because I knew his parents."

"He's probably afraid of misbehaving then. Once he starts, you'll know he's really coming out of his shell and trusting you. He really likes you a lot already by the looks of it though."

"So, he doesn't fully trust me yet, then?" Sirius asked. He had been so sure that morning that Harry did trust him…

"No, but in time, I should think. For now, just try and make sure he feels safe with you. Has he been sleeping alright?"

"Yeah, he sleeps fine. He took his nap without a problem yesterday, and he went straight to sleep after his story last night."

"That's wonderful. Have you developed a daily routine?" The Healer seemed quite pleased to hear this.

"Well, so far he get's breakfast and a bath in the morning. And then we go and do whatever we need to do. Then we have lunch and he has a nap after that. There's some time inbetween naptime and dinner. There's a bit more time after dinner for playing, but then we get on his jammies and read his story before he goes to sleep. It's how his parents went about things when they were still here."

"Wonderful! Children do well with routines. Familiarity is a good thing. Did you have any questions?"

"Well…" Sirius began, pondering. "I was wondering about his eyes and teeth…"

"His teeth are in absolute perfect condition, though he does need to brush them a bit more. I checked and cleaned them when I was looking down his throat."

"Did you really?" Sirius asked, sounding quite astonished.

"Yes. We check everything when it comes to our patients, Mr. Black. I didn't put my wand in his mouth for nothing. Anything else?"

"Nope, I think that's about it." Sirius nodded.

"Alright then. Harry, come here a moment, I've got some surprises for you." Harry scampered over to them, the stethoscope still hanging out of his ears. He handed it back to the Healer who smiled and placed it back around her neck. "For being such a lovely boy today, you get these."

Harry beamed as he was handed a tiny little bag. He peeked inside it and found a tiny red toothbrush and a little tube of tooth paste along with some floss. "Those of for you teeth to make them all nice and clean. You've got to remember to brush and floss after breakfast and before bed. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes!" Harry grinned, bouncing. His aunt had always helped his cousin brush his teeth, but Harry had never gotten to have his brushed before, so it was quite exciting.

"And you also get this." The Healer handed him a big round sticker and Harry's eyes grew wide at the sight of the friendly looking train with a face on the front. He beamed and handed it to Sirius who peeled it off the backing and put it on Harry's shirt for him.

"Thank you." Harry shot his melting smile to the Healer who grinned back at him. He raised a hand. "Have a nice day!" He'd learned that from the lady downstairs and thought it sounded like quite a good thing to say when he said good bye to people. Sirius scooped him up and Harry clung to his lion and book as they left, Sirius thanking the Healer as they did so.

* * *

Yay! This one could have been a lot longer, but I decided to cut it off there and save the next bit for the next chapter. Anyways, I hope you liked it. Lemme know what you thought!

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	6. A Home

Discl-... you know the drill by now. Characters belong to JK Rowling.

* * *

**His Boy**

_Chapter Six: A Home_

"I liked dat lady." Harry stated thoughtfully when he and Sirius were back on the train, heading for Grimmauld Place. Harry was looking at his book again, though Hermione wasn't on this train. He'd been hoping she would be. "Padfoot, can we call 'mione when we get home?"

"Well, probably not right away. But maybe later at the new house we can. The house we've been in doesn't have a phone." Sirius explained, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulders and hugging him to his side. He pointed to a page in the book. "That's a stegosaurus." Harry handed him up the book and held onto his lion as Sirius read to him until they reached their stop. They got off the train and made their way for home, Sirius carrying Harry on his shoulders.

When they arrived back at number twelve, Sirius sent Harry upstairs to play while he made lunch. Harry obliged, keeping quiet in the hallway until he reached the stairs and started up them. He was glad they were going to be moving. He didn't want to live in this house anymore… though it was where his Padfoot was, it was quite scary aside from the room he slept in and the kitchen. He bolted for the bedroom as soon as he got to the second landing and shut the door, wanting to keep out all of the creepiness of the hallway.

Harry sat down on the floor and dug his train out of the bag of toys Sirius had gotten for him yesterday. He quite liked his train, with its spinning wooden wheels and colorful cars. He made it go along one of the floorboards that acted as the 'track' before he got the idea to get his blocks as well. He built and built, stacking his blocks up until he'd made a tunnel that his train could go though. "Chugga-chugga chugga-chugga chooooo-chooo!" Harry laughed, giving his train a hard push, sending it crashing into the block tunnel. "Oh no! Alert alert, train crashed!" He grabbed up his plush dragon from the tall bed and made it swoop and soar down over the 'crash site'. "We're going to help chu!" The dragon landed on the train and Harry propped it upwards, repositioning it on the track. "Yay! Thank chu, Dragon! Now we can bring da rest of da people to da station." Harry picked up a couple of the blocks that were acting as people and replaced them in the train cars.

Harry built up a city of block towers for the train to drop people off at and had it chug its way along the floor into the city before he grabbed up his lion. "Uh oh! Here comes da big lion! He's gonna stomp on us! Aaaah! Oh no! Look outs! Raaaaawr!" Harry stood up with lion in hand. He stomped through the 'city' demolishing the buildings with his boots. "Rawr rawr rawrrrrrrr! Oh can anybody save us? Rawrrrrr!"

Laughter filled the room and Harry turned to find Padfoot standing in the doorway. He dropped his lion to the floor and raised his hands, sticking out only two fingers on each hand and, holding his arms close to his body, stomped towards his godfather. "Raaawr raaawr! I'm a T-Rex and I'm gonna eat chu up! Rawr!"

Sirius laughed but then coughed and feigned being scare. "Oh no! A t-rex, what will I do?"

"Rawr rawr!" Harry grabbed him around the leg and hugged him before mock biting him. "Rawr rawr, I eatin' chu leg, Padfoot. Rawr!"

"Oh, please don't eat me, Mister T-Rex!" Sirius pleaded, grabbing Harry up as he stumbled backwards, landing on the floor. Harry climbed on his chest, still growling. "If you're hungry I have some macaroni and cheese downstairs waiting for you for lunch. Just please don't eat me!"

"Rawr rawr! T-Rexes like macaroni and cheese, rawr!" Harry roared, climbing off of Sirius and laughing as he helped his godfather to his feet. Sirius laughed as well, grabbing Harry about the waist and tickling him into submission. The boy was near tears as he laughed, his face bright, cheeks red from mirth. Sirius scooped him up, hugging him tightly and ruffling his hair gently. Harry's conductor's hat lay on the floor where he'd been taken down.

"You ready for lunch now, Harry?"

"I'm not Harry. I'm T-rex. Rawr!" Harry corrected him, raising his little clawed hands again. Sirius laughed and bounced him a little.

"Right. Sorry. Are you ready for lunch, T-rex?"

"Yes." Harry nodded. Sirius carried him down to the kitchen and set him in his usual chair before a child sized bowl of mac'n'cheese. Harry grabbed up his spoon right away and dug in, hungry after the exciting morning he had had. So far, living with Padfoot was a lot of fun. He stirred his mac'n'cheese while he chewed and then looked up at Sirius who was sitting next to him. He frowned, wondering if… if it'd be ok to ask him questions about his mummy and daddy. He knew Padfoot had known them, had been best friends with them, but would he get mad like his aunt had when he'd asked? That was one of the stricter rules that followed the one about not asking questions at the Dursleys. He was especially never ever supposed to ask questions about his mummy and daddy. Maybe he had better test him by asking something else first. "Padfoot… Do chu know more magic?"

"Do I… Oh Harry, of course I know more magic." Sirius grinned at him and clinked his spoon into his now empty bowl. "The idea of magic doesn't scare you does it?"

"No. I like it. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia hate it…" Harry frowned and ate another bite of macaroni, biding his time. He chewed fully before he swallowed. "Can chu show me more?"

"'course I can!" Sirius smiled, and dug his wand out of his pocket. He would be a bit rusty, because of his time away from it, but he was sure he could do enough to satisfy the curious four year old. He lifted his wand and gave it a wave, making Harry's bowl float. The little boy gasped, watching wide eyes as his lunch floated for the ceiling. Sirius dropped his wand, and caught the bowl as it fell, placing it back in front of his delighted godson. Harry clapped.

"More puh-ease?" Harry begged a little bit, his eyes still wide and beaming. Sirius waved his wand again, shooting water out of it and into an empty glass sitting on the table. Harry laughed and continued to eat away at his breakfast as Sirius made the things around them do silly things with magic. He made the kettle on the stove hop about the room and turned Harry's milk purple. Cupboards opened and shut, dishes danced, chairs stacked themselves… all to entertain the little boy who hadn't seen magic since he was just over a year old. Sirius, remembering Harry's very favorite old trick, started producing puffs of colored smoke from his wand, letting them twirl around Harry who laughed and reached out his hands, trying to catch the smoke he knew he wouldn't be able to.

"Alright, I think that's enough for now." Sirius said after a while, picking up his empty bowl and glass. "You finish up your lunch, Harry."

Harry nodded, knowing maybe if he asked, he'd get to see more magic later. He ate away at the macaroni and cheese until his little bowl was empty and then downed the milk remaining in his glass. Padfoot had told him he needed to drink lots of milk if he wanted to grow up to be big and strong. He was quite pleased to do so, and was just about to help Padfoot by clearing up his dishes when he felt an old familiar warmth seeping into his shorts. He blinked, unable to believe that he had not even noticed having to go potty… he'd been having so much fun… it'd just snuck up on him! He bit his lip and sank a bit lower in his chair.

If there was one rule in the Dursley house that Harry knew he could not break under any circumstances whatsoever, it was the rule that he was not to wet his pants. Even when he'd been locked in his cupboard all day for getting in trouble, he'd been expected to hold it. When he'd first been learning to use the potty, he hadn't gotten in as much trouble because he'd still have a nappie during the night time. But once he'd been switched to full time big boy undies, if he had an accident Uncle Vernon would get his belt. He was going to get it now, he just knew it. Padfoot was going to be very angry…

"Alright, Harry." Sirius picked up his bowl and cup, setting them into the sink to be washed later. "I think you should probably have a nap now, or at least a lie down so that you don't get sleepy later when we're working on moving into the new house, alright?"

"I… I'm not sweepy, Padfoot." Harry said, trying to shoot for the lesser of the two evils. It was one thing to say he didn't want a nap, but completely another to have wet his pants. Maybe if he was careful, they would dry before he had to get up from the chair and then Padfoot would never have to know what he'd done.

"Then why are your eyes all droopy, huh, Prongslet?" Sirius asked teasingly, reaching down to give Harry a tickle, but the little boy flinched away, gripping the hem of his t-shirt tightly. Sirius frowned, knowing something was up now. Harry hadn't flinched away from him since that glass had broken the night before. "What's the matter, Harry? Is it your tummy, did you eat too much?" He asked, wondering if maybe he had given his godson a little bit too much food.

"N-no." Harry shook his head, quite sure that he hadn't eaten too much. His tummy was tying all up in knots though, but he knew those were from being scared. He was used to those. He wriggled away as Sirius reached for him, but it was no use. The older man picked him up and Harry winced, bracing himself for the yelling to begin.

"Harry, why are you all wet?"

"I'm s-s-soooooorrrrrry, Paaaaadfooooot!" Harry cried, bursting into tears and squirming in his arms. Sirius looked at him in shock… and then held him away from himself as he realized why Harry was wet. He could smell it. He watched as his godson cried. The kid look positively terrified and yet again, Sirius wanted to crack some heads open. Those rotten Dursleys…

"Woah woah woah, Harry. It isn't a big deal."

Harry sniffled, rubbing a hand under his nose and looking at Sirius with wet eyes. "It isn't?"

"Nah. It could have happened to anybody, but just be more careful alright?" Sirius said, setting Harry down on the floor and patting his head gently. "How about we try and remember for you to go to the bathroom before your bath and before lunch, alright? That way we don't have any more accidents."

"O-ok." Harry nodded, sniffling harder and rubbing at his eyes now. He was glad Padfoot wasn't mad at him like his aunt would have been. She would have yelled something fierce at him for adding to the laundry.

"That's a boy. Why don't we go upstairs and get you cleaned up." Sirius reached down and took the little hand in his, not caring that it was sticky and kind of snotty. He and Harry wandered up the stairs to the bathroom to get him cleaned up a bit before they went into the bedroom. Sirius dug out a clean pair of underwear and another pair of shorts for the little boy to wear, making a mental note to take extra clothes with them if they ever went on a day trip that lasted past nap time. "There now. That's all better, isn't it?"

Harry nodded, no longer teary eyed or sniffley. He felt much better now that he had nice clean shorts on and hadn't been yelled at for his accident. He yawned and picked his lion up off of the toy covered floor, hugging him tightly. He reached for his dragon as well, holding it by the tail. Sirius hoisted him and his toys off of the floor and plopped them down on the bed.

"And now, it is nap time, because all t-rexes need to take naps, otherwise they'll get cranky at dinner time." Sirius pulled the covers up over Harry who snuggled his head down against the pillow. Sirius reached out and wound up the little music box Dumbledore had given the little boy. He opened it, letting the little light shine out of it and the music play. Harry yawned again, his eyes glued to the music box as it lulled him off to sleep. Sirius removed his glasses and set them beside the music box. He looked down at the floor, noting that almost all the toys were out now as well as the clothes. He slipped down off of the bed and began to pack them back up into their bags.

Knowing that the would be moving into the house in Ottery St. Catchpole later that afternoon, Sirius decided he'd best make sure he had all of Harry's things in one spot. He would also have to gather what he wanted from his old bedroom, clothes and such, to bring along. He'd already taken care of the furniture the day before, magic being grand that way. He'd just looked through the catalogs given to him by the realtor after he'd told her that no, they would not be taking the furniture from the other house along with them. He didn't want any essence of number twelve in the new house, which was bright and airy and wonderful. He had circled each room setting he preferred for each specific room and that was that. The realtor took care of everything else for them and he paid her well for it. But it was all worth it, because it was for Harry. And he knew his own mother would be turning over in her grave if she knew what her family's old money was being used on. He also enjoyed that particular fact. He wasn't going to dip into Harry's inheritance until the boy started Hogwarts and only if they needed to. And then there was Sirius's old vault as well, with the money he had earned as an Auror before things had gone downhill.

…..

Harry yawned, waking from his nap after about an hour and a half. He stretched and looked around, noting that all of his things had been placed away in the shopping bags they had brought them home with. He figured it was because they were moving house today that they had been packed up, so he decided not to touch them. He didn't want to get in trouble, though he did kind of really want to play with his toys again… He frowned, torn between the two decisions before climbing out of bed with his two plush animals. He set the dragon on top of one of the bags and wandered out of the room with his lion, searching for Padfoot. He wandered down the stairs and all the way into the kitchen, but Padfoot wasn't here. If he wasn't in the bedroom and he wasn't in the kitchen, then where else would he be?

Harry stood in thought for a moment. The bathroom! Of course, that was where his godfather must be. He climbed back up all the stairs to the second landing and peeked in the open door. There was no Padfoot in here either. He frowned and looked at the stairs leading upwards. Could Padfoot be somewhere else in the house that Harry had not been yet? He didn't particularly want to wander around in the creepy house all by himself… but then, that just meant he had more reason to find Padfoot.

Taking a deep breath and gripping his lion tighter to his chest, Harry started up the stairs that would take him to the next floor of the house, trying to ignore the way the shadows seemed to be following him. He gulped, the stairs seeming to take forever, but he made it up them. There were two doors here… one with a sign and letters he couldn't read, and another that was open. He peeked into the open one and gave a sigh of relief, entering the fairly dusty bedroom. Padfoot was standing in front of the wardrobe, packing things into a big trunk. He looked up as Harry came in.

"Hey, Prongslet, did you have a nice nap?" Harry nodded, climbing up onto the bed to sit and watch as Sirius pulled a couple tattered looking pieces of clothing from the wardrobe, made a face, and threw them off to the side.

"What're chu doin'?"

"Packing clothes. We're going to be moving into the new house in just a little bit. It should be all set for us by five, the realtor said. Are you excited?"

"Yes. Is this your room?"

"Yeah it is. D'you like it?"

"Mhm." Harry nodded, looking around the room. This bedroom wasn't as bad as the rest of the house. There were a lot of friendly things on the walls: red and golden colored banners with lions on them, pictures of motorcycles, and of girls in bathing suits. "Do chu like to swim, Padfoot?"

"Huh? Yes, I do. Why d'you ask?" Sirius questioned him curiously, not quite sure where Harry would have gotten the idea. Maybe he wanted him to take him swimming sometime, which would be perfectly fine with him. He did enjoy swimming.

"There're lots of girls in bathing suits on your walls." Harry said, pointing to the closest picture. Sirius burst out laughing, though Harry wasn't sure as to why he was laughing. What was so funny about swimming? He shook it off, standing up on the bed and looking around some more. He blinked, spotting a picture that was different from the others and moved to get a closer look at it.

The picture depicted four men, all of them laughing happily… and they were _moving_. This had to be more magic! He looked the picture over more curiously now and blinked. That was Padfoot! Only he was younger and his hair was a bit shorter. And that man there… he looked just like… he looked just like Harry! "Padfoot?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Who are they?" Harry asked pointing to the picture, his eyes wide. Padfoot wandered over and looked at the picture, a smile on his face. He reached out and made to remove it from the wall, but it didn't budge. He'd forgotten about his permanent sticking charms… perhaps he would have to make an attempt at getting it off. Maybe if he cut the wall?

"That's me. And that's Moony. And that's your dad."

"My daddy!" Harry just about squealed with absolute delight as Sirius pointed to the man who resembled Harry. The little boy didn't even to bother asking about the fourth man in the photo, much to taken by looking at his father. Oh, his father. It was such a splendid picture, he thought. He couldn't believe that that was really his daddy. He reached out a hand and tried to take the picture off the wall as well, but it was stuck. He frowned. "Padfoot, I dun wanna move."

"Why not?" Sirius asked, worried now as he looked down at his unhappy godson. He'd been all for it not five minutes ago, hadn't he?

"'cause Daddy's stuck." Sirius laughed.

"Oh, don't worry about that, Harry. Moony and I have plenty of other photographs of your parents for you to look at. I bet you we can look at them later tonight at the new house too, if you want."

"Oh, yes puh-ease!" Harry laughed, bouncing on the bed in his excitement. He couldn't wait! He was going to get to see pictures of his mummy and daddy. Until yesterday, he hadn't even known vaguely what they looked like until Padfoot and Moony had told him. But to see pictures of them would be even better than having to try and imagine them. "Can we move now, Padfoot? Can we?" He begged, wanting to get to the new house so that he could see the pictures.

"We're not nearly ready yet, Harry." Sirius smiled, patting his head and trying to get him to calm down. "I still need to sort through some of my things." He wandered over to the dresser and began going though more of his clothes, tossing the useful ones into his trunk. Once he'd finished with that, he began to go through his books, knowing that Moony might like some of them. As he did so, a tiny slip of paper fell from one of them, and he blinked, crouching down to pick it up. Flipping it over, he blinked and felt his eyes prick slightly with tears.

Lily Potter sat on the floor, bent over laughing as a small boy with black hair shot back and forth behind her on his toy broom, disappearing on each of the edges of the picture. A pair of legs chased after the baby, and every time they passed her, Lily seemed to go into a fit of uncontrollable giggles that she just couldn't stop.

Sirius looked over at the bed where Harry was playing with his lion and glancing at the photo of his father. "Look what I found, Harry. Another photograph." He wandered over to the bed and sat down, offering the slip of paper to the young boy who took it with wide eyes.

Harry stared, his eyes glued to the woman in the picture, so full of life and happiness. She was so pretty and so… so… wonderful. He looked up at Padfoot questioningly and Sirius smiled down at him. "That's your mum. And that's you, when you were just one year old. And those legs belong to your dad."

Harry hugged the photo to his chest, his little eyes watering a bit as Sirius hugged him to his side with one arm. He looked down at the picture again and smiled, looking up at Padfoot. First his daddy, and now his mummy. He knew what both of them looked like for certain now, he didn't have to ever imagine their faces again, because he had them right here. Padfoot gave him a tight hug before getting up off of the bed and resuming his packing. He knew that picture had come with a letter, but he couldn't seem to find it. He had wanted to give it to Harry as well.

An hour later, Sirius was fully packed and Harry had been contently switching between watching him, playing with his lion, and looking at the two pictures of his parents. He hadn't said a word since Sirius had given him that picture of Lily. Sirius supposed he was quietly contemplating it. "Alright Harry, that's everything."

Harry looked up from his picture, apparently broken out of a revere that he had been lost in for a while now. He grinned, hopping down off of the bed and carefully, so very carefully he might have been someone much older than four, he slipped the picture of his mummy into his pocket. "We getta go to the new house now?"

"Yep. C'mon." Sirius levitated his trunk and led Harry back down to the second landing. He let the trunk fall and went into the room to gather the two bags of Harry's things and set them into trunk. He checked and rechecked, making sure they had everything, though they could always come back if need be. He levitated it all now, making it float down the stairs to the hallway, and then down into the basement kitchen, Harry at his heels the entire time. "We're going to go a very special way this time Harry."

Sirius reached up a took a glass jar full of powder off of the mantle of the large kitchen fireplace. Harry watched curiously as Padfoot undid the lid on the jar and offer it to him. "Take a handful." Harry did as he was told and took a handful of the powder, holding onto it. "Here, I'll hold onto your lion so he doesn't get lost." Sirius took the lion from Harry and set it down on the pile of things. He picked up the little boy and then took a handful of the powder himself. Harry gasped as Padfoot stepped right into the fireplace, but they didn't get burned. "Close your eyes if you get dizzy and drop your powder on three, alright? One… two…. three…" Harry dropped his powder as Padfoot did the same. "Canterbury Cottage!"

Harry would have screamed if he hadn't been so astounded. They shot right up the chimney and spun in circles, faster and faster, grates and other fireplaces flying past their eyes as they went. Harry felt his stomach twist and shut his eyes, not liking the feeling he was getting. It was much too dizzy making, this was. He assumed it must be more magic though, and he had wanted to see more. They landed and Harry felt Padfoot fall forward slightly before catching himself. He opened his eyes and grinned brightly, taking in the room around him like it was the best place in the world.

A pale blue plush carpet and white furniture met his eyes. There was a couch and a pair of chairs, as well as a glass coffee table sitting in front of the fireplace they had just come out of. A large window stood out from the right side of the room, creating half of a hexagon and a cushioned window seat. Out of the window, Harry could see green… lots and lots of grass and trees and flowers. He rushed to it and peered out into the front garden, his nose nearly against the glass. A fence surrounded the whole of the front yard, a gate in the center where there was a stone path leading up from it to… was that the front door? Harry couldn't tell from this angle but he was so excited he didn't care. He turned his head to look at Padfoot. "Is this our house?"

"You bet it is. And I also bet that if you go look around, you'll find some places that you'll like even more than the living room. Moony is around here somewhere, so if you need anything, just holler for him. I've got to go back and get the trunk." Harry nodded and watched as Padfoot climbed back into the fire and disappeared once more. He climbed down from the window seat and wandered through a doorway opposite it.

This was the kitchen, all decorated in bright, wonderful yellows and whites, a wooden table off to one side. Harry quite liked it, remembering the kitchen back at number four with its sparkling white surfaces. This was much better. There was a screen door here that must go to the back yard, but he ignored it for now. Padfoot had said to look around the house, but he hadn't said anything about the yard. So maybe he wasn't allowed to go out in the yard? He certainly hoped that that wouldn't be so. He wanted to play in all that greenery.

Heading through a door to the right of the screen door, Harry found the dining room. A big, long shiny table stood in the middle of this room with three chairs on each side, plus one on each end. There would be plenty of space for company to come and visit, that was for sure. The floor in here was wooden, but there was a rug under the table in varying shades of green that matched the walls. A large chandelier crystal hung above the center of the table, already all lit up and glittering. Harry wasted no time admiring it though, he had more important things at hand.

He pushed through the next door, feeling like he was going kind of in a circle and came out into a hallway. He could see the doorway to the living room from here and the doorway to another room across from it. Harry peeked into that room and found it piled high with book shelves full of books and a desk, the carpet on the floor a nice deep red. For some reason, it reminded him greatly of Moony. Turning, Harry noticed a door beside the library's and opened it. It was a bathroom, with just a toilet and sink in it. No place to have a bath there. Turning around, Harry started his way up the stairs that were in the hallway, wanting to see if he could find his room.

There was one first landing and it had four doors on it. Harry checked the first one, but it was another bathroom, this time with a tub and shower. It was a pretty cool bathroom, he had to admit. There were rubber duckies and bubbles all over the white walls. He liked it.

Moving on, Harry opened the next door and gasped, entering the room with the biggest eyes anyone had ever seen on a child his age. The room was painted all in primary colors with an incredibly squishy foam flooring that reminded Harry of puzzles. A train chugged along a track that was set about one third of the way up the wall, at just the right height for Harry to watch it. It circled the entire room, stopping when it reached the open door, unable to go any further. Harry checked the back of the door and found more track on it. He closed it and the train continued on it's journey. He watched it for a few moments before wandering deeper into the room. A toy chest sat in one corner, it's top open and revealing dinosaurs and a fire truck. There was a huge ball and a tiny broom (Harry didn't exactly understand that one) and a ride on plastic train that had its own car and everything.

Unable to resist, Harry climbed onto the train and placed his feet on the pedals, making it go. He laughed happily, circling the room and trying to keep up with the scarlet steam engine that was going along the track on the wall.

"I see you've found the playroom." Padfoot laughed as he opened the door, having heard Harry's laughter. He set the bag of toys down on the floor and Harry climbed off of the train, running at him. He hugged him round the waist tightly.

"I love this room, Padfoot!"

"I thought you'd like it." Sirius laughed and scooped him up. He reached down and pulled Harry's lion out of the bag, handing it to him. "But, you've still got to see your bedroom, haven't you?"

"Oh… yeah!" Harry nodded, having forgotten that he was to have a bedroom of his very own. Honestly, he really couldn't believe all of this. Just two days ago he'd been at the Dursley's, miserable and unwanted, and now here he was, in the most magnificent house he'd ever been in with his Padfoot. And he even had a play room and a bedroom, just like Dudley did. He felt satisfaction well up in his little four year old being. He may not have as many toys as Dudley, but he didn't care about that. He had something much better that Dudley would never have. He had his Padfoot.

"Here we are." Padfoot opened the door next to the playroom and Harry's eyes bugged out again. The room was just about the most perfect place he had ever seen. Sirius had gone for a train theme for the playroom, but he'd decided on lions for Harry's bedroom, hoping that he was holding a future Gryffindor.

Harry's bedroom was scattered with red and gold, paw prints on the carpet and along the top of the wall. There was a small shelf with a few plushies on it and a red night stand next to his red bed with the red blanket with a big golden lion in the middle of it. Harry squirmed and Sirius let him down to explore. Instead of there being toys in this room, there were books in a small bookcase off the one corner, and a little table with crayons and paper on it. He even had his own chest of drawers, something he also hadn't had at the Dursleys. He turned his head to look up at Sirius, his grin melting his godfather's heart.

"Best room ever." Sirius laughed and picked him back up, spinning him around brightly. Remus poked his head into the room to see what the racket was and Sirius smiled at him as well, lifting Harry up into the air, the little boy laughing. They were home.

* * *

Yeeee! I hope you like this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Heh, Harry is just so gosh darn cute. Lemme know what you think, I'd love to hear from you!

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	7. Mummy and Daddy

Disc-... you already know the drill. This is fanfiction. Hence the name of the website.

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**His Boy**

_Chapter Seven: Mummy and Daddy_

"Padfoot, can we look at pichas' of my mummy and daddy?" Harry asked as they ate dinner in the kitchen of their new house. Remus had ordered out for some pizza so that they could have a regular guy's night in. Harry had even been given a cup of root beer for the occasion, though Sirius wasn't going to be letting him drink soda too often. It would rot his teeth and he did need to drink lots of milk, but for tonight he figured Harry had gotten a good bit of calcium from their macaroni and cheese lunch and the cheese from the pizza. Harry was delighted by the way the bubbles erupted in his mouth as he sipped from his new little plastic red cup from a twisting twirling blue straw.

"Sure we can. Moony, didn't you say you had an album somewhere?" Remus nodded, chewing his pizza and swallowing before he spoke, wanting to set a good example for the mini-Marauder.

"Yes, I do. It's right up in my bedroom. I really think we should get some of them out of the album though."

"Why?" Harry asked, concern lighting his little face, his straw in his mouth, but he had swallowed and stopped sucking up his soda. Why would Moony want to take some pictures out of the album? Did he want to throw them away?

"Because we should frame them and put them up on the walls of course, Harry." Remus reached out with a napkin and rubbed a bit of pizza sauce off of Harry's little nose. "That way we can look at them all the time. I bet you'd like to have some pictures of your parents in your bedroom, wouldn't you?"

"Oh! Yes." Harry nodded, a grin lighting up his little face. He would like that very much, to be able to look at his mummy and daddy whenever he wanted. Remembering earlier, he reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out the picture Padfoot had found of his mummy, him, and his daddy's legs. He held it up proudly. "I already has dis one too! My mummy is really bootiful, see?" He offered the picture out to Remus who took it before it could get any grease from the little boy's hand on it. He smiled, looking down at Lily laughing.

"Yes, she was very pretty."

"Bootiful." Harry stated firmly, correcting him. Remus and Sirius chuckled.

"Right. She was very very beautiful, Prongslet." Padfoot nodded in agreement and Harry seemed quite satisfied with this answer. As far as he was concerned, his mummy as the most wonderful, beautiful lady on the planet and no one was ever going to tell him otherwise, especially not his Padfoot or Moony. They understood. Harry looked between the two of them, very pleased.

"When can we look?" Sirius smiled. Harry was getting better as asking questions, something that he knew he should be doing, even if he wasn't quite up to the average of his age group. Harry didn't ask too many questions, though, from what Sirius had read in a parenting magazine in the St. Mungo's waiting room, four year olds typically asked around four hundred questions a day. Literally. Because they were so impossibly curious about the world around them. He hoped Harry would start to ask more and more.

"How about after dessert?" Remus suggested as he raised his wand to clear up their dinner plates. Sirius got up and dug into the freezer, pulling out a tub of ice cream. Harry licked his lips. He'd never gotten much in the way of ice cream before, but he'd had a taste or two in his time enough to know that he was looking forward to dessert.

"Here Harry, I bet you'll like this." Sirius grinned, getting out a big glass. He poured the remainder of Harry's root beer into it and then added a little more until it was about half full. Then he scooped in some ice cream. Harry watched with wide eyes as the white creamy deliciousness floated on top of his soda. Sirius grabbed a can of whipped cream and sprayed it on top of Harry's float before Remus added a cherry.

Harry clapped, he couldn't help it. In his four year old mind, Padfoot and Moony had just created the most perfect looking treat on the planet. Sirius pushed it towards him and popped Harry's straw into it. The little boy sat high on his knees in his chair, sucking down more root beer, the ice cream getting stuck. He's face contorted with confusion and frustration as he sucked harder. Sirius laughed and offered him a spoon.

"The ice cream won't go up your straw, Prongslet. But you can eat it this way too." Harry took the spoon and dug into his treat happily, munching away at the whipped cream first. He devoured it, saving the cherry for last. Remus and Sirius ate their own floats and watched in astonishment that such a small person could consume so much so quickly. And as Harry sat back, he didn't even look the least bit ill.

"That was yummy!" He beamed up at them, laughing, his face sticky with ice cream. Sirius scooped him up, snuggling him.

"I'm glad you liked it. Now let's get you cleaned up a bit while Moony goes and gets that album, alright?"

"Ok!" Harry laughed as Padfoot held him close to the kitchen sink so that he could help him wash his hands.

Once Harry was clean of sticky ice cream, he and Sirius went to sit on the couch in the living room with Remus who had a big leather bound album in his hands. Harry sat between the two men and Remus placed the album in his lap so he could get a good look at the pictures.

Harry pulled the album open eagerly and his jaw just about dropped. Here were his mummy and daddy! Over and over again, picture after picture! He squealed, pointing to the first one. His daddy had his arms around his mommy and was peeking around her shoulder from behind. They were both wearing long black robes and were standing in front of a stone wall. James Potter looked quite like somebody had clubbed him over the head, not able to believe his luck at having gotten his true love to finally say yes. But Harry didn't see that bit, all he saw was his mummy and daddy, smiling up at him happily and swaying back and forth. "Look! Padfoot look! It's Mummy and Daddy! It's dem!"

"Yes, Prongslet." Sirius laughed, feeling a bit of pain as he looked down at the pictures. He missed his friends dearly, but put an arm around the product of them… the precious little boy that was cuddling up to his side. Harry turned the page, completely immerse in the album like it was the most interesting bedtime story he had ever been able to get his little hands on.

They spent half an hour on the couch, just silently looking at the pictures before Harry got up his nerve, stopped biting his tongue and broke one of the Dursley's rules. He asked a question about his parents. "Can you tell me a story about dem?"

"A story?" Remus asked curiously, grinning at Sirius who grinned back. "I think we can tell you more than just one story. We have loads if you want."

"Really!" Harry couldn't believe his luck. Loads of stories about his parents? He would have been content with just one! He wriggled excitedly, turning his head to look up at Remus and then Sirius expectantly.

"Well, let's see…" Sirius began, prodding his mind. He decided to start with something simple, something Harry could truly appreciate. "Hmmm… Well… Once upon a time there was a beautiful woman with dark red hair and very green eyes."

"Mummy!" Harry laughed.

"Yep! And she was in love with a very handsome man with tons of black hair that stuck out all over the place, hazel eyes, and glasses."

"Daddy." Harry stated satisfactorily, happy to be able to use their names at last. He had never before been allowed to do that.

"And when they were nineteen years old, they decided they loved each other so very much that they wanted to get married. And so the woman wore a very beautiful white dress…" Remus flipped through the pages of the album until he got to James and Lily's wedding photos. Harry laughed. "And the man wore stunning long black robes. They were married on a sunny day in a little church in a sweet little village called Godric's Hollow. After the wedding, the moved into a very pretty cottage with a big garden in Godric's Hollow."

Sirius turned the page to the picture of James standing proudly on the doorstep of the little cottage that Lily had fallen in love with while she had her arms thrust out to the side, spread wide and high as through to saw 'This is it!" They watched the picture for a moment, watching as James pulled the keys out of his pocket and dangled them above Lily's head while she jumped for them, wanting to go in. Sirius chuckled and Harry seemed concerned for a moment until his daddy gave his mummy the keys and they went into the cottage. Remus turned the page again.

"And not long after that, they got the biggest, best news anyone could have gotten. They were going to have a baby." A very pregnant Lily smiled up from where she was leaned against a tree in the front yard, her arms wrapped lovingly around her stomach. Harry looked at her curiously. The other pictures of his mummy didn't have her with such a big tummy, but he also remembered that sometimes at his school, the other children would announce they were to be getting a new baby and that their mummy's had always been quite fat right before the baby would come and then after it came, they wouldn't be so fat anymore. Harry wondered if this had been the same case with his mummy, but he decided he'd ask later. He wanted to hear more of the story.

"The man and the lady were so very happy that they were going to have a baby and they just couldn't wait to meet him. Do you know who that baby was, Harry?" Sirius asked curiously, looking down at the little boy who smiled up at him, showing all his teeth.

"Me?"

"You betcha!" Remus laughed and turned the next page, continuing the story. "They had a little baby boy who they named Harry James Potter and they loved him sooooooo much."

Harry gasped as he gazed down at the next picture his eyes wide. His mummy and daddy were standing close together, his mummy holding a tiny black haired baby and both of them were looking down at the baby so… so… kindly. Like how Padfoot looked at him or Aunt Petunia looked at Dudley. Like they LOVED the baby.

"That's you, shortly after you were born." Sirius nodded, pointing to the baby in the picture. "And here you are, a bit bigger." He pointed to the next photo, of the baby sitting up in his mother's lap who was sitting in Harry's daddy's lap. In the following photos, the baby seemed to grow. He was in a high chair, on the couch sleeping on his daddy's chest, being chased by his mummy through the garden, and all three of them huddled up on a big bed with a large book in front of them that Harry instantly recognized as the dragon book he loved so much.

Harry was quiet for a few minutes, looking down at the pictures. He patted them and sniffled a bit, trying not to cry but not able to help it. He missed his mummy and daddy a lot. Sirius hugged him closer, stroking his hair back from his head as they turned the page again. And there was Padfoot! Harry's eyes grew big. And Moony! Moony was holding tight to Harry's hands, helping him stand, and Sirius was crouched down, beckoning him forward. Harry watched as his baby self, with the help of Moony, toddled across the floor to Padfoot who scooped him in and tickled him just like he had done earlier. Harry rubbed his nose dry and looked up at his godfather and Remus.

"And the man and woman had two friends named Padfoot and Moony who loved Harry very, very much and would always come to visit him." Sirius laughed, looking at a photo of Harry laughing his head off in his high chair, a bowl of smashed something or other on his head, dripping green down his face while Sirius himself, was laughing, looking as though he'd been hint a few times in the face by the same substance. Harry smiled at this and they continued turning pages until they got to the end of the album, a picture of Harry dressed as a very puffy and impossibly adorable little puffskein, his mother cuddling him like he was the most precious thing in the world while James tickled him. Sirius frowned and looked at Remus. The werewolf must had gone through the house and found Lily's camera after the attack, because the photo must have been taken the day James and Lily had died. Looking at his friend's face was all the confirmation Sirius needed.

Harry was frowning, not liking one bit that they had reached the end of the album. He had liked looking at the pictures of him with his mummy and daddy the best, and there were a lot of them, but not as many as there were of his mummy and daddy together. He sighed. "And den the mummy and daddy and baby got into a car crash and the mummy and daddy died and the baby had to go live with his mean aunt and uncle who didn't like him very much."

"What did you say Harry?" Sirius asked concernedly, looking down at the little boy. "A car crash?"

"Yeah…" Harry said, looking quite confused. His aunt had told him that his mummy and daddy had died in a car crash and then to not ask questions. "Dat's why they're not here."

Sirius sighed, looking at Remus who nodded. There was going to be no easy way to go about this but Harry had to know the truth. It would be bad for them to lie to him and then have him find out about it later when he went to Hogwarts. He would never trust them again. Making a mental note to pay back the Dursleys for lying and treating his godson so horribly, Sirius took a deep breath. "Harry, your parents didn't die in a car crash."

"But that's what Aunt Petunia said happened." Harry shook his head, turning the album back to the first page so he could look at more pictures of his mummy a daddy.

"She lied, Harry. That isn't what happened at all, not even close. Your mummy and daddy didn't need a car, because they could travel by magic, just like we did earlier in the fire place."

"But…." Harry pondered, so full of confusion now. "Den how did they die, if they wasn't in a car crash?"

"Well, Harry…" Sirius sighed, lifting him up into his lap. He would go for the simple version. Harry didn't need to know all of the more grisly facts yet, but he deserved the truth. "Not that long ago, a few years actually, the wizarding world, our world, was in the middle of a big war. There was a big bad mean man who didn't like people who weren't witches or wizards, what we call Muggles."

"Muggles?"

"Mhm. They don't have any magical powers like we do. The bad man was called Voldemort. He wanted all witches and wizards to treat Muggles badly, but we didn't want to. Even though Muggles are different, they're still people and they don't deserve to be treated badly. So, us good guys, decided to fight Voldemort and his followers. He didn't like that. Your mummy, daddy, and I were Aurors, that's kind of like um…"

"Police men." Remus added. He'd taken Muggle Studies back in school, so he had retained a bit more knowledge about Muggles than Sirius ever had.

"Ooooh." Harry nodded, understanding this comparison. "So, you and my mummy and my daddy caught bad guys?"

"That's right, Harry, very good! So, Voldemort didn't like us one bit and on Halloween, when you were just one year old, he went to your house…" Sirius gulped, bracing himself for the words that no four year old or any child for that matter, or any person, should ever have to hear. "He… he…"

"He made my mummy and daddy dead." Harry stated, having caught on to what must have happened. He was four, but he wasn't stupid. Angry, he slipped off of Sirius's lap and stomped his foot. "I hate Voldienert!"

"Voldemort. And yeah, we hate him too. But… after… after he did that." Sirius continued. "One of his curses backfired on him, and he was killed too."

"Good!" Harry nodded satisfactorily, glad that that mean old Voldiejerk had been killed. Especially since he had killed his mother and father. "So, den I hadda go live with the dumb Dursleys. Why didn't you come and get me sooner, Padfoot?"

Sirius sighed, leaning back against the couch as Harry climbed back up into his lap. "I would of if I could have Harry, but see, there was another bad man, named Peter. And he was a real rat. He was supposed to keep your mum and dad safe, but he told Voldemort where they were. Then he told everyone that I did it instead and I got put in jail."

"Like when Dudley breaks his toys and tells Uncle Vernon that I did it so I get in trouble?" Harry asked, frowning and not liking the sound of this Peter guy at all.

"Exactly like that, Harry." Sirius nodded, glad his godson had something to compare his arrest to. He didn't want him to think he was a bad man because he had been in sent to jail wrongly accused. "But a couple days ago, somebody captured Peter and made him tell the truth. So they let me out of jail, and then I came and got you as soon as I could."

"I'm happy you did." Harry stated after a few minutes of silence, burying his face against his godfather's chest. He snuggled against him happily. "But… Why didn't Moony come get me? Was he in jail, too?"

"No. Moony's not your godfather, so they wouldn't have let him take you away." Sirius explained simply. It was way too soon to let Harry in on the werewolf secret. Maybe when he was a bit older and only when they absolutely were required to do so. He would notice after a while, that Remus would look paler around the full moon and probably the howling in the night when he was to be locked in their back shed to wait out the night. He and Sirius were not looking forward to this in the least, but hopefully, if they reinforced the shed magically and maybe cast a muffling charm upon it, Harry would never have to be the wiser to his second favorite person's condition.

"Oh." Harry frowned at this, but seemed to accept it. He sat up after a minute, picking the photo album back up. "What pichas' are we gonna put on da walls?"

"Hmmm… why don't you pick out the ones you want to have in your room first? We can put some of them on the wall above your bed and maybe frame on for your table, how about that?"

"Ok!" Harry turned the pages brightly, wondering which pictures he should chose. Eventually he settled upon the one of his mummy and daddy in front of the stone wall, of him with them in his Halloween costume, his mummy chasing him in the garden, sleeping on the couch with his daddy, and of course the one he had kept in his pocket all day. He also picked the one of them reading him a bedtime story, only he wanted that one in the frame, liking it best. As he picked them, Remus removed them from the album carefully, peeling back the plastic and getting each picture unstuck from the sticky backing of the album pages.

Harry took his pictures and headed upstairs with them, Sirius and Remus following after him, the latter with a roll of Spellotape. Harry climbed up onto his bed and dropped his pictures onto it. He chose one and then placed it against the wall beside his bed. Remus took it, put tape on the back and then stuck it to the wall where Harry wanted it. They repeated the process with every picture except for the last one, for which Sirius produced a small red, heart shaped frame that Harry smiled at. He knew hearts meant love, and seeing his mummy, daddy, and him sitting inside a heart made him feel extra special and happy.

Harry yawned sleepily, rubbing at his right eye under his glasses. He looked over at his window, it was already dark out. It must be quite late for it to be dark out since it was summer time.

"I think it's time for bed, Harry." Sirius smiled, lifting the little boy up off of his bed and setting him on the floor. "Why don't you pick out a book to read tonight?" Harry nodded and wandered over to the bookcase in the corner, looking through them curiously. He finally decided on one with a picture of a big dog on the front and carried it over to Remus. He liked the way Moony read, giving the characters voices, though he did also enjoy when Padfoot read to him.

Padfoot helped Harry into his lion pajamas and the three of them settled down on the carpeted floor, Remus reading the book this time upon Harry's request. The little boy swayed drowsily where he sat, rubbing at his eyes, but not wanting to miss any of the story. "Harry, we can finish the book tomorrow, why don't you get into bed now?" Padfoot suggested when they were about halfway through the book and Harry nodded, climbing into his bed. He took of his glasses and set them down beside his framed photo and music box.

Padfoot pulled up his covers, tucking Harry in just the way the little boy liked, the man's black hair tickling his face. Moony wound up the music box and opened it, letting the light out and the music begin to play. He gave Harry a hug. "Good night, mate. I love you."

"Good nigh', Moony. I love you, too." Harry smiled sleepily at him and Remus left, turning the light off as he did so.

Padfoot bent down and kissed Harry's forehead as he always did when putting Harry down for a nap or to bed for the night. He smiled at the little boy. "Good night, Prongslet. I love you."

"I love you, Padfoot. Good nigh'." Harry snuggled down in his bed and watched as Padfoot got up and left the room. He looked up at his ceiling, smiling at the stars that were glowing there. Even Dudley didn't have glowing stars on his ceiling. He rolled over and looked at the pictures on the wall of his mummy and daddy and him, dim in the light from his music box, but still visible. He smiled and rolled onto his other side, looking at his framed picture and the dancing couple in the music box. He felt… satisfied. He knew a bit more about his parents, and if he asked again tomorrow, maybe Padfoot and Moony would tell him another story about them. "Good nigh' Mummy. Good nigh' Daddy. I love you, even if you is dead."

…..

_Harry was running, his feet moving as fast as they could. He could see his mummy and daddy up ahead down the asphalt that marked the road of Privet Drive. They were yelling something, and he ran faster, trying to catch up to them, but he couldn't quite make it. The closer he got, the further away they went… "Wait! Wait! Mummy! Daddy! Come back! Wait!" He collapsed, his little body exhausted from all of the running. And suddenly, there was high pitched laughter, a flash of green light, and his mummy and daddy disappeared completely. He screamed._

Harry sat bolt upright in his new bed, his little chest heaving as though he'd just run a thousand bajillion miles. His heart was pounding. That dream had been so… so… scary! The light from his music box had gone out when the song had ended and the stars glowing on the ceiling had lost their glow for now. The room was too dark, but Harry was used to being in the dark. He wasn't as afraid of it as other kids were, having spent so much time in the dark little cupboard under the stairs that it was nearly impossible for him to be afraid of it. Only, here in this new place, after that scary dream, he was kind of scared of the dark. But he was more frightened from his dream.

Gulping and deciding that he did not want to be alone, Harry climbed out of his bed and wandered out into the hallway, toting his lion along with him. He slipped into the dark hallway and frowned, realizing he had not explored the house past his bedroom. Taking a deep breath, he went to the fourth door that he knew was neither bathroom nor playroom. He opened it slowly, peeking into the room. There was a big bed in the room, along with a dresser and some other things that he couldn't quite tell what they were at the moment.

Harry made his way for the bed, knowing that either his Padfoot or his Moony must be the big sleeping lump in it. He climbed up onto the bed and crawled under the covers, snuggling up to whichever man was sleeping in the bed. He took a deep breath, feeling safer now, and his nose was filled with the safe and familiar scent of his Padfoot. He snuggled closer, burying his face against the front of Padfoot's pajamas and hugging his lion close. He didn't want to wake Padfoot up, in case he got mad. He knew Uncle Vernon hated being woken up when he was trying to sleep.

Padfoot stirred, sensing that he was not alone and opened his eyes, looking down at the little boy who had come to curl up in his bed. "Harry? What's wrong? Why aren't you in your bed?"

"I… I… I hadda bad dream." Harry admitted after a minute, gulping and hoping that Padfoot wasn't mad. He didn't sound mad….

"Oh. What was it about?" Harry told him, shuddering as he remembered that awful laughter and green light.

"Do you have dreams like that often?" Sirius asked, hugging Harry close. He knew all too well that the green light was probably an old memory of the Killing Curse. And the laughter, that had to be Voldemort. What kind of bastard laughed when trying to kill a one year old boy?

"Sometimes. I dun like dat green light or that laughing, Padfoot." Harry nestled himself deeper against his godfather, hugging his lion tighter. Just remembering it made him feel scared, but he was safe now. His Padfoot would protect him from the bad things.

"That sounds awful. I want you to tell me whenever you have bad dreams, ok Harry? That way we can try and see what makes them better." The little boy nodded, feeling much better already now that he knew Padfoot wanted to hear about his bad dreams. It made him feel like he actually cared what Harry dreamed about.

"Can I stay here with you?"

"Yeah, but tomorrow we're going to try you sleeping in you own bed again, alright? In your nice red lion bedroom with the pictures of your mummy and daddy. You like your room, right?"

"Mhm. I like it lots." Harry nodded again. He did want to sleep in his own room… He liked his bed with the lion blanket and the pictures of him mummy and daddy and his music box. It was a really neat bedroom, and he was quite pleased it was his. But he was afraid of having another bad dream, so he would stay with Padfoot until tomorrow.

"Good. Then we'll try again tomorrow. Now, it's really time to be going to sleep for little boys and big men." Sirius kissed Harry's black locks and cuddled him closer, wanting to try and help keep away anymore of those awful dreams. He had bad dreams himself, about Azkaban, but maybe with Harry here, they would go away? He sure hoped so, though he didn't want to become reliant on his godson to keep his bad dreams away. He would have to deal with that on his own. "I love you sooooo much, Harry. You are my favorite person in the whole wide world."

"I am?" Harry asked, his whole body filling up with glee at this.

"Yep. Now get some rest."

"You're my faborite person too, Padfoot." Sirius's heart welled up and he kissed the boy's head again, laughing and holding him just a little closer. He would probably never have children of his own, but at least he had his precious Harry. This sweet little boy helped make life worth living.

"I'm glad. Good night, Prongslet." But Harry had already fallen asleep, feeling safe and secure wrapped in the arms of his godfather.

* * *

-squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee- I just love this chapter so very much. And I just love Harry's thing for trains, so I've even asked my mum for a working toy Hogwarts Express for my birthday. She thinks I'm crazy and doesn't understand it, but she'll get it for me anyway... and we can use it around the tree at the holidays too. So it's actually kind of conventional. I won't explain it to you guys, you're reading HP fanfiction, you already understand. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter even half as much as I enjoyed writing it. It was a blast! Lemme know what you thought, I love hearing your opinions and suggestions! And if you've read my Little Lily story, you already know what a puffkskein is, if you don't, look it up. They're adorable!

With much love and squealy girliness,

S.Q.O.


	8. The Minister

Si... You know the deal.

* * *

**His Boy**

_Chapter Eight: The Minister._

"Sirius… Sirius!" Remus whispered in his ear, giving him a delicate shake, but not wanting to wake the sleeping little boy next to his best mate. Sirius groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing at his eyes and glancing over at the red illuminated numbers of his clock. He glared at Remus.

"It's five in the bloody morning, Moony. What the hell?"

"Sirius, we have to hide Harry. I've just gotten a call from Dumbledore, he says the Minister is on her way and she wants to take him away with her. Something about child protection acts, but you and I both know quite well the real reason why. Remember back when she was appointed? She's in cahoots with the Malfoys, who are supporters of You-Know-Who. Dumbledore has it on good authority that they've paid her well to have her bring Harry to the them, something about having a spy from the Order inside the Ministry. Anyway, since we technically didn't go about getting him the legal way, she can claim we kidnapped him and take him away."

"Shit." Sirius climbed out of the bed and picked up the little boy in his arms, not quite sure what to do with the sleeping child. There weren't many places they could hide him here. "What are we going to do?"

"Dumbledore is trying to stall her the best he can. But knowing the Minister, she's bound to get here within minutes. Dumbledore said something about the Lovegoods, just over a couple of the hills and in a house shaped like a rook."

"They live in a house shaped like a bird?"

"No, you dolt. Like a chess rook. A castle!" Remus stated, frustrated as he picked Harry's lion up from the bed before dropping it back down. "We've got to wake him… there's no way you'll be able to apparate or Floo with him, he still has the Trace on him. They'll know. You'll have to run, and there's no way you'll get there in time unless…"

"I'm on all fours." Sirius nodded and set the boy down on the bed, giving him a prod. He stirred and sat up, letting out a grumpy whimper that stated clearly that he had not finished sleeping yet. Remus handed the little boy his glasses and he put them on. "Hey Harry, sorry to wake you, but you and I have to go see some friends now."

"Why?"

"Well, because we…" Sirius was torn. How could he give a satisfactory explaination to this one? "We need to play hide and seek. You know how to play that, right?"

Harry nodded hugging up his lion and holding it tightly. "Chu hide until the seeker finds chu."

"Right. In this case though, we don't want the seeker to find us, cause she's a mean, nasty old lady ok? So we've got to go hide at our friends house. Want to see more magic?"

"Alright." Harry nodded, too sleepy to really understand what was going on. He was much more interested in the idea of going back to bed, but Padfoot had told him they had to do this, so he'd try and stay awake.

Sirius grabbed his wand and shifted, his body moving until he was all four legs and covered in shaggy black fur, a massive dog. Harry's eyes were wide as saucers, definitely awake now. He reached out a tentative hand, placing it on his godfather's head and giving it a scratch. The dog's tail wagged and he lifted his head to lick Harry's cheek. The little boy giggled and then looked up at Remus.

"Padfoot's a doggy, Moony!"

"Yes, he is!" Remus said happily, lifting the little boy up from the bed and placing him onto the dog's back. Padfoot shifted his shoulders, making sure Harry was on securely. Remus quickly tied a string about Padfoot's neck, creating a makeshift collar. "You hold onto this Harry and don't let go. I've got to stay here, but Padfoot is going to take you to the Lovegoods, ok?"

"Ok, Moony." Harry said, looking quite excited at the idea of riding a dog. He looked quite like an adult on top of a horse, Padfoot was so big. "Wait!"

"What is it Harry?" Remus asked kindly.

"Can I takes a picha' wid me?"

"Sure. Hurry though."

Harry slid off of Padfoot's back and ran to his bedroom. He grabbed his picture of his mommy laughing (it was the smallest and would fit in his pocket) and then slipped it into the front pocket of his pajama shirt. He buttoned the pocket closed, not wanting to lose it. He climbed off of the bed and onto Padfoot's back "Ok."

Harry leaned forward, grabbing hold of the string with both of his hands as Sirius moved, bounding carefully down the stairs and around the corner to the door Harry knew led into the kitchen. He pressed through it and then reared back as they reached the screen door that would take them into the back garden. He pushed the handle down with his paws and the door flew open. It was then that he began to run.

Harry hunched over on Sirius's back, the wind whipping through his hair as the dog ran as fast as he could, barreling through the large, wonderful back garden and onwards over the stretching of the wide grassy hills. Harry was starting to feel quite sick. Sirius was moving too fast, and it was all so bumpy. "Slow down, Padfoot!" But the dog didn't seem to hear him, he just kept his pace right on up, knowing that if he slowed down in the least, the more likely it was that they would be caught.

…

Remus straightened Harry's bedroom, getting rid of any and all signs that any little boy had been there. He'd fixed the covers on the bed, closed the music box, and put the book they'd been reading the night before away. He also hurried to the hamper in the bathroom, where he had put Harry's dirty clothes from yesterday, folded them, and then placed them in the bottommost drawer in the little boy's dresser. He had just removed the picture Harry had drawn before dinner the night before off of the refrigerator when the doorbell rang. He quickly folded the drawing and shoved it under the sink.

Moving slowly to make it appear as though he had only just gotten up, Remus walked to answer the door. He tugged it open with a yawn and smiled pleasantly. Standing upon the doorstep was a concerned looking Dumbledore and a little witch with her graying hair pulled back into a messy bun. She wore robes of the deepest green and an expression that made her look like she had been force fed a lemon. "Ah, good morning, Minister, good morning professor, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

The little witch stepped over the threshold as Lupin beckoned her and Dumbledore into the house. He closed the door behind them and then gestured towards the living room. "Do come have a seat, can I get you coffee, tea?

"No no, that will not be necessary." The little witch waved him off as she moved into the living room.

"It has come to my knowledge, Mr. Black has illegally removed a child from the home of his only living relatives. As law states, children shall not be taken from their home by anyone except for a Ministry official of the Department for the Protection of Magical Children, after which the department will place them in a suitable foster care facility or the home of another family member or legal guardian." The Minister stated almost as soon as she had sat down.

"And as I have told you, Millicent…" Dumbledore stated calmly. "You have misheard. The letter I sent you clearly stated that Sirius has requested to take legal custody of Harry as was written in the Potters' will. We simply visited the residence of Harry's relatives, found it to not be a safe environment for him, and called upon a Ministry official to retrieve the boy. She has all of the paperwork."

"You're hiding the boy here somewhere, aren't you Mr. Lupin?" Millicent ignored Dumbledore, keeping her eyes focused on Lupin. "He's probably hiding somewhere with Mr. Black as we speak. Where are they?"

"Sirius is out for his morning stroll, and Harry isn't here."

"At five thirty in the morning?"

"He likes the sunrise after his wrongful time in Azkaban."

"And if the child is not here, then why has Mr. Black bought a new house?" The Minister inquired curiously, looking around. She rose from the couch and started through into the hallway where she proceeded up the stairs. "Why must he have a new house when, from what the records show, already own a number twelve, Grimmauld Place in London?"

"Sirius desires a good place for Harry to grow up, that is all. As Harry's legal guardian, stated by James and Lily's will, it is only proper that he'll be given custody of Harry after the papers are cleared." Remus stated simply, catching Dumbledore's eye once they reached the first landing and the little witch began throwing doors open, peering into rooms. She was obviously looking for a place where a grown man and little boy could hide.

…..

Harry had turned quite green by the time he and Sirius reached the large black column that was the Lovegood's house. Sirius sat down, Harry sliding down off of his back and feeling quite relieved to do so. That had been one of the bumpiest, fastest things the little boy had ever done, and he hadn't liked it too much. If Sirius had only gone slower.

The dog morphed back into a man and scooped up his godson, holding him tightly in his arms and rubbing his back as he knocked on the door, breathing heavily. The door opened and a woman in a dressing gown answered. She was quite beautiful, with long blonde hair and big blue eyes. She had a little girl on her hip, a tiny little clone of herself. She beckoned Sirius in, gazing around her wild and out of control garden anxiously. "Inside, hurry."

The woman closed the door behind them and Sirius collapsed into one of the wooden kitchen chairs, leaning back. First he was woken up early, and now he'd just run about three miles at a sprint, his body having not even fully recovered from Azkaban yet. He murmured a thanks as the woman placed a glass of water in front of him and chugged it, not letting go of Harry as he did so. Once he'd caught his breath, he looked up at the woman who was watching him concernedly. "I cannot thank you enough."

"It's not a problem. Dumbledore called me early this morning and explained everything. I'm Tricia Lovegood, from the Department for the Protection of Magical Children. I've been working on the papers you need all morning. I don't approve of the way you went about getting Harry, but I do admire how much you must care about him to risk being thrown back in Azkaban for kidnapping." Tricia sat down at the table, snuggling the little blonde girl close. The child was quite the pretty little thing, a little younger than Harry. "You're very lucky, that unlike in the Muggle world, it is the department that deals with these things on its own most the time and we rarely ever need to hold a trial unless the other party involved wishes to keep the child within their custody."

"They locked him in a cupboard under the stairs. They're not going to be trying to get him back." Sirius explained simply, hugging Harry just a little tighter. Harry's stomach had calmed down from the wild ride and he was now clinging to Sirius, his head buried against his shoulder, hiding from the new stranger.

"So, there was definitely abuse?" Tricia asked kindly, kissing her daughter and bending to place her on the floor. The little girl gave a happy laugh and scampered over to where some paper and finger paints were sitting on the floor. She sat down, dipped her entire hand into the blue jar and began going at it.

Sirius shifted Harry slightly and lifted the little boy's pajama pants down a bit, revealing the bruises made from Vernon Dursley's belt. "You tell me." Tricia gasped, her eyes widening. "I took him to St. Mungo's yesterday for a check-up. He's malnourished as well."

"I'll get the Healer's report added to my papers later then. We'll take legal action against the people responsible as well. They'll not get away with treating a child so poorly. I'll get the papers finished up, do the obligatory background check, and have to take a look at your home as well to make sure it is a safe environment for a child to be in. And since it's a high priority, I should be able to get it all done today and have the papers cleared by five. Then you'll be able to take Harry home and not even the Minister will be able to remove him from your care. Here… just sign the bottom of this and I'll fill out the rest. It's the request form for custody." Sirius took up the quill and quickly signed the bottom of the page. Tricia took it back. "You should probably get back. It'll look suspicious if you're not there. Get about quarter of a mile away from the house and then apparate. That way they won't be able to associate your apparation with Harry's Trace. I'll keep an eye on him, and if anyone asks, I've been doing so for the past two days."

"Alright." Sirius nodded and slid Harry down off of his lap, placing him on the floor. He kissed the little boy's head and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Ok, Prongslet, here's the deal. You're going to stay with Mrs. Lovegood for the day ok? She's a very very nice lady and I wouldn't be leaving you here with her otherwise, understood? And if anybody asks, you've been here since you left the Dursleys."

"Ok Padfoot." Harry nodded, flinging his arms about his godfather's neck and breaking down in tears. He didn't want him to leave. What if he never came back?

"I will see you later then, Harry. I promise, nobody is going to take you away from me. You're mine forever and ever because I love you." Harry sniffled, feeling a little bit better as Sirius let go of him and he nodded.

"Ok."

"Be good." Sirius ruffled his hair and gave him another kiss, not liking the idea of leaving him when he'd barely been away from him in the past forty eight hours. He wanted to stay with his little boy, but he knew he had other things to do if he even wanted to keep the kid. "I'll see you soon."

As soon as Sirius had left, Tricia crouched down in front of Harry with a very kind smile and spoke in a soft voice so as not to frighten him further. "Hi Harry. I'm Tricia and you're going to have lots of fun today. Would you like to go paint with my Luna while I make breakfast?" Harry glanced over at the little blonde girl. She seemed to be having a lot of fun with the paints. He nodded. "Well, go on and paint then. I'll let you know when it's time to eat." Harry nodded again and rubbed at his eyes, trying to be brave. He missed his Padfoot already, but he would be good and do as the lady said. She didn't seem so bad, but you could never tell with grown-ups.

…...

"I'll ask you one more time, Mr. Lupin, where are they hiding?" Millicent seemed to be getting angrier and angrier as she tore open door after door on the first landing. She went into Harry's playroom and even tipped over the toy chest in her search for the little boy.

"I've told you already, they're not here. Sirius is talking a stroll and Harry is with a foster care family. We haven't even seen him in the past couple of days." Remus explained exasperatedly.

"I believe, Millicent, you'll find that if you cast a revealing charm, that there is no one in the house aside from us." The Minister turned red at this and gave a wave of her wand, having clearly forgotten there was a spell for this.

"Homenum Revealio!" The little witch looked confused for a moment, gazing around.

"Harry is in the capable hands of the Ministry's very own Tricia Lovegood, and Sirius Black is simply taking a stroll." Dumbledore confirmed and then gestured out the front upstairs window. "Here he comes now."

Sirius was coming up the front walk of the stone cottage, whistling pleasantly and breathing in the sunshine. He wanted to look as impossibly innocent as possible, something he had gotten quite good at during his days at Hogwarts when accused of pranks. McGonagall had seen right through him, but then, this Minister was no McGonagall. She would be easy to fool, he hoped. He hopped up the front steps and in the door, entering the downstairs hallway just as Remus, Dumbledore, and Millicent were coming down the stairs.

"Ah, good morning, Minister!" Sirius beamed at her, bowing. "To what do we owe this honor?"

"Black." The Minister glared at him, and if looks could kill, well… Sirius would be lying dead on the floor. He just kept smiling at her though. "What makes you think you could possibly have what it takes to raise a child, especially one was unique as Harry Potter?"

"I'm sure we'll do just fine, given the chance, Minister. Harry is family after all."

"We?"

"Remus and I. It is our duty, as Harry's parents' very best friends, to make sure that Harry is well looked after. Lily, of all people, would not have named me godfather if she did not think I was capable of taking care of the most precious thing in the world to her. And you should know how picky a woman can be about her most precious of possessions, Minister."

"So you, a previously convicted felon…"

"A wrongly accused man." Remus stepped in.

"And a werewolf, A WEREWOLF, plan on raising one of the wizarding world's most famous people?"

"Yes. We do." Sirius stated proudly. "But to us, he'll always be just Harry Potter, our best mate's son."

"This is an absolute outrage. I will not stand for it. Harry Potter shall not be coming to live here, if I have any say whatsoever over the matter, which, I can assure you, as Minister of Magic, I do!"

"Actually, Millicent, I believe you'll find that, though you may be the Minister of Magic, so long as the Head of the Department for the Protection of Magical Children deems them capable of taking care of Harry, you cannot, legally, do anything. Contracts are binding things, and the Department for the Protection of Magical Children has done everything possible to avoid any and all loopholes within their contracts. As Harry's legal guardian appointed by his parents, Sirius has every right to have custody of the boy."

"And what would you know about the Department for the Protection of Magical Children's contracts, Dumbledore? Last I checked, you ran a school, which is not part of the Ministry." Millicent stated angrily, puffing up like a bird.

"Well, it can't possibly be the fact that I run a school, as you have just said. A school where a thousand magical children attend and where myself and my staff are responsible for them twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, for nine months out of the year minus holidays for which some of our students do not return home. No, the Department for the Protection of Magical Children couldn't have anything to do with something like that, now could they, Millicent? " Dumbledore stated quite calmly and rationally, his face very serious indeed. Sirius began to cough to try and cover up his laughter while Remus snorted and feigned getting a hanky from his pocket.

"Well I… You say he is at the Lovegood's?"

"Yes, Minister. I'm sure Tricia would be perfectly pleased to see you. Why don't you go pay her a visit and see for yourself how Harry is doing?"

I just might, Dumbledore. Good day to you."

"Good day Minister."

"Mr. Black. Mr. Lupin." Millicent nodded cordially.

"Minister." Remus stated, nodding back at her while Sirius continued to hack, unable to help himself. He was still reeling from what Dumbledore had said. The door closed behind the little witch and Sirius fell to the floor, bursting out with mirth, tears rolling down his cheeks. Remus fell to sit on the stairs, bending over with laughter and Dumbledore chuckled.

"Well, now that that is taken care of." The old Headmaster said after quite some time. "Why don't we go out back and see that shed of your's, Sirius? Perhaps we can make it properly werewolf proof. We should probably also set some repealing spells around the perimeter of the house, just to be safe. You and Remus will have nothing to worry about come full moon."

"Thank you, Dumbledore." Remus stated seriously, rising from his place. The last thing he wanted to do was to harm Harry on accident.

…

Harry liked Luna. She was quite fun and imaginative; playing with her was just as good as reading books on the train with Hermione. Mrs. Lovegood had served them both some pancakes and then sent them upstairs so she could get more of the paperwork done without them underfoot. Both children were covered in paint, running around Luna's pretty bedroom in a game of what Luna called 'Nab the Nargle'. Harry wasn't quite sure what a nargle was, or how to nab one, but he did know he was having a good time running around Luna's bedroom with a pillowcase held above his head.

"Gets it, Hawwy! Gets it!" Luna laughed, jumping up and down on her bed with her own pillowcase held high. "Ova dere! Ova dere!" Harry had found out earlier that Luna had proudly just turned three the month before and he had very happily stated that he was a whole four years old. He didn't mind that she was younger than him though. He figured maybe he could teach her a few things while he was here, like how to jump super duper high or do a somersault. He was quite good at somersaults, his preschool teachers had taught him how to do them.

"I'mma get it!" Harry laughed, jumping into the air where Luna was pointing. The little girl jumped off her bed with a loud thud and ran to him.

"Dids you gets it?" She asked curiously, pulling at Harry's pillowcase and peeking inside. "Aww… no nawgles. We twy 'gain. Oh! Dere Hawwy!" She laughed and pointed above her bed. They both ran to climb up on it and began jumping for the nargle. Harry didn't see anything, but he guessed Luna did because she kept pointing and telling him it was there.

Tricia smiled as she listened to the noises coming from up above in her little girl's bedroom. It was nice to know that her Luna was having fun someone her own age for a change. Her husband was up on the second floor in their living room, writing an article for that magazine of his that he claimed would be taking off any time now. She had total faith that it would. He was a brilliant writer and he had some wonderful ideas that needed to be shared with the world, such as that of the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. Brilliant creatures those were, though she'd never seen one.

Looking up as a knock came upon the door, Tricia sighed, knowing full well who it probably was. Luckily, she had completed all of the forms Sirius would need to get custody of Harry. She had already sent an owl for the background check and she'd go over to check out the house that afternoon. She could work from home easily enough, especially when she needed to take in a child in need. Quickly, she slipped the forms back into Harry's file and shove in the middle of a stack of other files she had on the table. She opened the top on and placed it in front of her seat, making it look as though that had been the one she was working on. She tugged the door open and forced a smile. "Why good morning, Minister. What brings you around these parts?"

"I have come to inquire about a specific case, Lovegood. There are… nasty rumors going about and I just wanted to make sure everything was in proper accordance with the law."

"Of course, Minister. Come right in, I'm just finishing up a little paperwork here. Have a seat, can I get you anything to drink?"

"No no, I can only stay a few minutes." The little witch sat down in one of the little wooden kitchen chairs, eyeing the place with disdain. Were those… handprints and crayon on the lower cupboards?

Spotting her eyeing Luna's handiwork, Tricia felt a little defensive. She took her seat again and motioned towards the cupboards. "My daughter enjoys sprucing our home up with little bits of art. Now, what was the case you had a question about?"

"Potter, H. J. Case number 252."

"Ah yes." Tricia nodded and dug into the pile of files, searching for the correct one. She pulled it on and set it down upon the table in front of herself, opening it. "Now, your question, Minister?"

"There are some rumors going about that Sirius Black kidnapped the boy from his relatives' house in Little Whinging."

"Oh, I wonder who could have started that one. Whomever it was was greatly misinformed. I extracted Harry Potter from the house myself. I received a call from Mr. Black stating that he had reason to believe the child was being treated poorly and I'm glad he did. Kept in a cupboard under the stairs, bruises all over his rear end, obviously underfed. It's quite lucky that the child is still alive." Tricia stated, her voice full of disgust at how those awful Muggles had treated the boy.

"And you have all of the proper papers on this?"

"Of course." Tricia handed her the paper she'd filled out on the 'extraction' of Harry and the request Sirius had signed asking for full legal custody. "As you can see, everything is in order. I'm just waiting for… oh! That must be it." She stood up the allow the owl that had just tapped on the window into the little kitchen. She untied the letter from its leg and tore it open, reading it over. "Oh, this is excellent. It seems Mr. Black's back ground check has gone through and he hasn't a single flaw worth mentioning. This is fantastic. I'll just give him a call to let him know and then pop down to his home to do a check and make sure it's safe for Harry…"

"It's not. There's going to be a werewolf living there. He could harm the boy." Millicent grasped desperately, seeming to be trying to find a single reason why Black could not have custody of Harry Potter. She knew of course, that the house would pass inspection.

"You mean Remus Lupin, right? I have a background check on him here as well. Let's see… oh my! Straight O's in all of his exams during school, a Prefect… Currently unemployed, but as he will not be considered the main caregiver, this isn't an issue… So long as they take the necessary precautions at full moon, I'm sure they'll be just fine." Tricia smiled pleasantly, setting the papers down upon the file.

"Black is unemployed! He just got out of Azkaban, so he hasn't got a job."

"It says here that he's an ex-Auror, so I'm sure he could have his job back in no time at all. Besides, look at these figures for his vaults at Gringotts. He'd be a wonderful applicant for any child. Is there anything else I can help you with today, Minister?"

"I would like to see the child for myself. He's here, isn't he? It says on the extraction paper that he was automatically placed in your care as a foster parent."

"Yes. He's just upstairs, can't you hear them? But I'm afraid he doesn't take well to strangers…" Tricia pointed to ceiling where the sounds of laughter and tiny footsteps could be heard. They got louder, echoing on the spiraling staircase now and Luna flew into the room, closely followed by Harry who was holding a pillow case very tightly as though worried to let go of it.

"Mummy! Mummy! Hawwy catchded a nawgle! Hawwy catchded its!" Luna shouted with pure glee, apperantly not the least bit concerned about the guest in the kitchen. "Shows Mummy, Hawwy. Shows Mummy the nawgle!" The little girl laughed, jumping up in down in a circle around the table, her whole being full of innocent delight.

Harry stepped forward nervously, biting his lower lip and holding the bag out to the kind lady who had fed him breakfast. He knew she had to be alright, Padfoot had said she was, hadn't he? He sure hoped so… he couldn't remember.

Tricia took the pillowcase and peeked inside. She laughed. "Oh my word, so you have. A job well done, Harry. Why don't we go set it free outside? That way it can fly but not make our brains woozy."

Harry nodded, eying the new strange woman at the table nervously. He reached out a hand and clutched tightly to Luna's dress, hiding behind the little girl. He didn't like this new lady, she was creepy looking with crazy sharp pointed teeth as she smiled down at them.

"Why, hello there, Harry. It's very nice to meet you." Her voice was sickly sweet, almost like the medicine Aunt Petunia used to force down his throat whenever he had a cough so that her precious Diddykins wouldn't catch it. Harry retreated further, hiding behind Tricia's chair and dragging Luna with him. He didn't know why, but he felt some instinctive urge not to let that lady anywhere near his new friend. She was bad. No matter how nice she pretended to be… he could see it in her cold, dark eyes. "Can I ask you a couple of questions sweetheart?"

Harry shook his head. Normally he wouldn't have said no to any adult, but he really, really was frightened by this woman. He didn't know why, maybe it had something to do with her eyes or her teeth, but he knew he was not about to say a single thing to her unless forced. Her smiled faded into a frown and Harry tugged Luna closer, wrapping his little arms around her from behind and keeping her with him behind Tricia.

"Is he always this shy?"

"I told you, he's not good around strangers. It's a trust issue. Why don't you leave the question asking to me, Minister?"

"Fine then. I want to know about the other night, when you retrieved him."

Tricia left her chair and Harry pulled Luna closer, stepping back against the wall as the little girl looked up at him in confusion, smiling like this was a silly new game to be playing. The blonde woman crouched down. "Harry, sweetheart, do you remember when I came to get you from your relatives' house?"

Harry was confused. He hadn't met Mrs. Lovegood until today. It had been his Padfoot who had taken him away from the Dursleys. His brow furrowed and he nodded, hoping this was the correct answer. Something was going on, but he didn't know what it was. All he knew was that Mrs. Lovegood was…. She was lying to the other woman. He gulped and whispered. "Padfoot?"

"Yes, with Padfoot. Good, you do remember."

"Padfoot? What is a Padfoot?"

"It's what he calls Mr. Black, some old family nickname. Anyway, Harry, do you remember why I came to get you?" Harry nodded, he knew the answer to that one, and his face lit up.

"My Padfoot wants me. When's he coming?" Harry asked curiously, wanting to know when Padfoot would be back to get him. Now that the other lady was blocked from view by Mrs. Lovegood, he felt a little bit safer.

"As soon as I finish up a few more things, hunny." Tricia turned to look up at the Minister. "He keeps asking after him. It's a very good sign that he almost remembers who he is. He'll make an excellent caregiver. He even came to St. Mungo's yesterday, to your check up, remember?"

"Mhm!" Harry nodded delightedly, remembering the nice lady who had given him the sticker and the little bag full of teeth cleaning things. He had liked his check up.

"I think that's probably enough questions for today. It's all in the official report if you want to go over it. Minister."

"Ask him about his family."

"No. Now is not the time to be reminding him of that. He needs happy things."

"My Padfoot gived me dis." Harry stated every so proudly, digging into his pocket and pulling out the photo of his mummy. He hugged it and then held it up for Tricia to see. "She's my booooootiful Mummy."

"Oh, she is very beautiful Harry. I remember, Padfoot gave you that at the hospital yesterday when we met up with him." This was not the truth, but Harry nodded anyway. Mrs. Lovegood kept lying, but he figured, if she was lying, she must have a pretty good reason. She was a very nice lady and he liked her fairly well, if only because she was Luna's mummy.

"Well, I can see that my time here is wasted." The Minister stated quite unpleasantly. "Have a good day, Lovegood."

"Good day, Minister." Tricia smiled at her. "Can you guys says bye to the Minister?"

"Bye bye ugly lady!" Luna stated happily, waving one slightly pudgy hand after the woman. She glared down at her and Luna just kept on smiling, not the least bit shaken. Harry was pleased to see the Minister go. He didn't like her one bit, no did not.

"Why don't we go release that nargle now, huh?" Tricia stated simply, picking up the pillowcase from where she had set it down. The two children nodded and followed her out into the front garden, Luna dancing and singing about setting nargles free and Harry watching curiously. He wanted to know if he could actually see what he bad caught.

* * *

Yay another one! I hope you enjoyed it! I loved writing this chapter. Lemme know what you thought!

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	9. Rules

Disclaimer: You know it already. JK Rowling be awesomesauce.

* * *

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Nine: Rules_**

"Well, everything seems to be perfect." Tricia stated, looking down at her checklist as they walked back up towards the cottage from the back garden shed far off in the corner. "The spells on the shed are wonderfully solid and incredibly strong according to my Probity Probe, you should be perfectly safe to change here, Remus." She smiled at Remus who grinned back at her, though somewhat pained. He'd rather not had to of reinforced the shed. Would rather not be a werewolf. "And the house is just magnificent. I love how you've incorporated spaces special for Harry and plenty of learning opportunities , it's absolutely wonderful. I'll just send the papers off to be cleared by the Head of my department, and I should be able to bring him over round fiveish."

"Great!" Sirius beamed happily, a little skip to his walk at this good news. He knew that he would have gotten Harry, he'd known it, but there was still that little part of him that had been worried that she wouldn't approve of the house, or that the Minister would have taken Harry away from him. But no, here was Tricia, telling them that everything would be perfectly fine. That everything would be the way it was supposed to be, that he would get his precious little boy back and be able to keep him forever.

"And then I'll have to come back in two weeks to check up on you guys, make sure you're doing alright. And then again about a month after that, but I have a good feeling things will be just fine. That little boy really loves you, he kept asking after you when he wasn't playing with my Luna. She just adores him, we'll have to have some play dates, being neighbors and all."

"Yes, we will. It'll be great for Harry to have someone his own age to hang out with." Sirius nodded happily, glad that his godson had made yet another new friend. He was a very social little person, he could see that. Perhaps they should see about the Weasleys as well, Dumbledore had said they had children, though not how old they were. "Maybe you and your family would like to come for dinner tonight if everything goes through ok?"

"Oh, I'm sure Xeno and Luna would love that." Tricia smiled, nodding her confirmation. "We'll be here."

Later that evening, Remus was pulling chicken breasts out of the oven when the doorbell rang. "I'll bet that's them, Padfoot."

The black haired man nodded and practically ran to the door. He pulled it open and was instantly tackled down to the floor by the full force of a four year old's over excitement at seeing him again. "Padfoot! Padfoot!" Harry laughed, clinging to his godfather as Sirius grunted, lifting himself into a sitting position and hugging Harry as the little boy snuggled up contently in his lap. "I missed chu, Padfoot."

"I missed you too, Prongslet." Sirius laugh, lifting Harry up and getting to his feet. He shifted Harry to his hip, tickling him and receiving a smattering of giggles from his godson. It had only been eleven hours since he'd see the kid, but with the prospect of losing him had been hanging over his head, Sirius could not express the relief he felt at having his precious boy back in his arms. He turned his attention to the threesome at the door. "Please, come in. It's so nice to have you come." He held out his hand to Xeno, who's flyaway blonde hair was just as crazily everywhere as his daughter's. "Sirius Black, a pleasure to meet you."

"Xenophilius Lovegood, editor of the Quibbler." Xeno stated proudly, shaking Sirius's hand happily. "We're happy to come. My Luna just loves your Harry."

"My Hawwy." Luna stated brightly, tugging at her friend's boot. Sirius set him down on the floor and the two of them stood there happily, clasping hands. "He my brodder."

"She's my sissy." Harry said quite proudly, beaming up at Sirius and swinging his and Luna's hands back and forth. Luna come to the conclusion that since neither of them had any siblings, they might as well be each other's brother and sister. Harry had quite enjoyed this idea, liking Luna and her imaginary world of 'nawgles' and 'wacksputs'. She was a very fun sister and she didn't seem to mind sharing. Harry didn't mind sharing either, as he had never really had anyone to share with before. They were quite the odd pair in this way, since most three and four year olds were not always ones for sharing or even getting along all the time.

"That's great, Prongslet. You guys will have to visit each other often then."

"Yes!" Luna laughed, bouncing as she ran in place with her glee at the idea of hanging out with Harry again. Harry, however, frowned and dropped her hand, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

"But Padfoot, I wanna keep her." Sirius smiled and crouched down.

"Oh Harry, Luna has to stay with her parents and you have to stay with me."

"But… what if Luna comes to stay with chu too?"

"She can come sometimes, but not all of the time. Her mummy and daddy would miss her way too much, just like I would miss you if you left. But you love Luna, right?"

"Yes." Harry nodded firmly, gripping his little friend tightly. She laughed and raised her hands to tickle him.

"Well, when you love somebody, they can never ever truly leave you. Because they'll always be in your heart."

"Aways!" Luna laughed wriggling out of Harry's grasp and tackling him to the floor where she promptly sat on his tummy and began to tickle his neck. Harry laughed reaching up to tickle her tummy, feeling better now. His Padfoot was very smart, so he supposed he had to be right.

Sirius showed them all into the dining room at the end of the hallway, Remus just finishing setting a bowl of peas on the table. Harry climbed up into his chair, knowing it was his because of the small red dishes set there. They were his and only his, though he noticed that Luna had similar ones in blue at her place, right beside him. That made him happy, knowing that she had plates at his house too.

"Alright, who wants chicken?" Remus asked, smiling.

"Schicken! Pwease!" Luna squealed, holding up her blue plate to him. Remus laughed and stroked her hair, taking the plate and cutting her off about half a breast before he cut that up into smaller pieces for her to eat. He set it down in front of her.

"Me too, puh-ease." Harry held up his red plate and Remus took it from him, repeating the motions of making sure the chicken was cut up into smaller pieces so Harry could eat it without struggling or choking. "I love chicken."

"So did your daddy." Sirius smiled, reaching a hand out to ruffle Harry's hair. The little boy's chest puffed out proudly as it did whenever he discovered a similarity between himself and his parents. He loved how Sirius and Remus mentioned them so often, it made him feel good and safe. If they loved his parents as much as he did, then he knew he was going to be fine here with them. Padfoot and Moony were his two most favorite living people. "Let's see, we need peas on those plates of yours as well."

"I don't like peases, Padfoot." Harry shook his head, hoping Padfoot wouldn't get mad at him for voicing his opinion on the evil little green balls of yuck. Sirius frowned, not really knowing how to respond to that. He didn't want to force Harry into eating something he didn't like, but then again, most kids were opposed to the green vegetables. He knew Harry needed to eat at least some peas because they would be good for him, but how to do so without Harry thinking he was being mean. He was after all, just starting to come more out of his shell… that simple statement of dislike showed him that.

"Well, that's too bad, because the peas really like you." Sirius heaved a sigh of relief as Xeno took over for him, nothing his distress.

"Dey do?"

"Oh yes, very much so."

"They love to be eaten by little boys and girls and help them grow up strong. They will be very sad if you don't eat them." Remus added, grinning at Xenophilius.

"Oh…" Harry frowned, eyeing the bowl of green peas, looking quite sad himself. He held up his plate. "I eat some, but not a lot, otay?"

"Okay!" Remus laughed and spooned a little serving of peas onto Harry's plate while the little boy's face switched to a satisfied smile.

"Otay peases, get in." Harry pointed his fork at his peas and opened his mouth, waiting. Sirius was about to tell him to use his fork when the peas began to giggle and hop, right on into Harry's mouth. The little boy laughed, chewing when he had enough in his mouth and then opening it for more.

"Are you…" Sirius looked at Remus who shook his head. They both looked to the adult Lovegoods who shrugged.

"Must be accidental." Tricia said simply, smiling. "Luna makes a lot of silly things happen, don't you baby?"

"Mhm!" Luna ginned, her mouth full of chicken. She poked Harry with her plastic fork. "Hawwy do magic!"

"Huh?" Harry turned his head confusedly.

"She's right Harry, you did do magic." Sirius laughed proudly and Harry beamed. "That'll happen sometimes, at least until you're eleven and can get your wand."

"I get a wand!" Harry's eyes went wide and he looked around at them all. He knew his Padfoot and his Moony had wands, and he quite adored watching them make thing float around or emitting pretty colored smoke for him to chase.

"You sure do, but when you're eleven." Remus laughed, watching at the est of Harry's peas jumped into the little boy's mouth followed by a piece of chicken. The delight Harry had at the very idea of getting a wand made him even more reassured that magic was something good in the eyes of the little boy. Whatever the Dursleys had done to him, they hadn't been able to take away the enchantment of a child's world, nor that of the magical world. "And then you'll get to go to Hogwarts."

"What's Hoggywarts?" Harry asked curiously as Luna let out an excited squeal and just about feel out of her chair at the mere mention of the place.

"It's a school for young witches and wizards. Padfoot and I met each other and your mum and dad there."

"Ooooh!" Harry beamed, kicking his legs under the table and humming a little as he picked up his fork to stab a piece of chicken. He brought it to his mouth, still humming as he chewed. He liked the sounds of a magic school. Maybe he could learn all the spells Padfoot and Moony knew. Maybe he could even learn how to turn himself into a doggy like Padfoot!

Once dinner was finished and Harry and Luna were yawning over the last of their slices of pie, the Lovegoods decided it was time for them to be heading home. They thanks Sirius and Remus for such a pleasant evening, and after promising to come back again soon, they left. Harry waved to Luna from the front doorstep, one hand in the air, the other covering a really big yawn, his eyes droopy. As soon as his friend was out of sight, he turned to his Padfoot and lifted his arms, not saying a word. Sirius scooped him up, snuggling him close on his hip.

"It looks like somebody is ready for nighty nights."

"Can we finish da story?" Harry asked, rubbing at one eye. He was really sleepy, but he didn't want to go to bed without learning what happened to the doggy in the book.

"Of course we can, Prongslet." Sirius smiled and made for the stairs.

"Can Moony read it? He makes good voices. Almost real." Sirius laughed and snuggled the little boy closer, turning to head for the kitchen now. Remus was a better reader than him, and he did do wonderful characters when he read to Harry. Maybe that could be a special thing for them, the bedtime stories.

"Moony, your biggest fan would like you to continue your rendition of 'The Doggy Who Lost His Way' tonight. I'll do up the dishes." Sirius passed Harry over to Remus who gave the boy a kiss on the forehead.

"You read da bestest, Moony." Harry grinned at him, but then frowned, hoping he hadn't hurt his Padfoot's feelings.

"That he does, Harry." Sirius ruffled his hair and pulled out his wand, giving a great sweep to turn on the faucet, pour the soap into the sink, and have the dishes begin to scrub themselves clean with the sponge. Harry's eyes widened as he watched for a minute, enjoying the way magic made the world just a little bit cooler. Sirius grinned and gave his wand another way, making the bubbles in the sink float up and about. They circled around Remus and Harry, the younger of the two laughing delightedly, reaching his hands out to catch at the stream of fluffy white bubbles.

Once Harry was all bubbled out, Remus carried the nearly sleeping child upstairs and set him down on his bed. "Well Harry, still want to hear about that dog?"

"Yes puh-ease, Moony." Harry nodded and lifted his arms above his head, letting Remus remove his shirt and replace it with a pajama top. They did the same with his pants and Harry climbed up under the covers. Remus cuddled up next to him, the book open to right where they'd left off. He read it, making sure to do the voices Harry so loved. When the book was through and Harry was yawning quite a bit, Remus rose from the bed, put the book away, and tucked the covers up over the little boy nice and tight. He picked the stuffed lion up off of the floor and placed it beside him, knowing that Harry adored it. "I like books, Moony."

"That's a wonderful thing, Harry. Maybe someday, I'll teach you to read, alright? Then you can read to yourself when Padfoot and I are busy."

"Yeah!" Harry nodded enthusiastically. He knew his letters already, but he would like to know how to read as well. If anyone could teach him, it would be Moony.

"Looks like you're all settled nicely." Padfoot grinned as he came into the room to say good night. Both he and Moony gave Harry a kiss and a snuggle. "Good night Prongslet. Love you."

"Nigh' Padfoot. Nigh' Moony. I love chu."

"Good night, Harry, I love you too." Remus smiled. They made sure the music box was wound and open as always and that Harry had his glasses off before they left the room, letting the four year old get his much needed rest.

…..

Harry woke the next morning to the bright sun shining in through his windows. He stretched, reaching for his glasses and putting them on his face. He was happy, having not had any bad dreams while he slept. Feeling quite good and like a big boy for making it a whole night by himself in his own bed, Harry slipped out of his little red bed and padded for the door, his lion swinging from his hand.

Wanting to be even more of a big boy and impress Padfoot and Moony, Harry headed into the bathroom to go potty. He flushed and looked at the tub. Padfoot always gave him a bath in the morning… maybe he should give himself his own bath? He was sure he could do that… it was just turning on water and putting in bubbles right? That wouldn't be too difficult…

Smiling at his plan, Harry grabbed the knob and turned it. It was a big silver thing in the wall, not like the two knobbed taps at the other house or number four. He liked the rubber ducky bathroom best, there were no creepy snake legs on the tub or a rough Aunt Petunia.

Sticking his hand under the faucet like he'd seen Padfoot do, Harry checked the water temperature. It was cold. Way too cold for a nice bath. Frowning, he looked closer at the lever. One side had a blue line and the other had a red line. Hmm… Which way was the right way? He deliberated for a minute. Fire was red and it was hot, could that mean the red line was for the hot water? He supposed so and gave it a try, turning the knob all the way to the red side.

Steam began emitting from where the water hit the bottom of the tub and Harry stuck his hand under the faucet, but quickly withdrew it. That was waaaay too hot! It hurt! He turned the lever the other way, just a little bit. The steam stopped and Harry checked the water again. That was much better. It was still hot, but it felt nice and didn't burn.

Harry looked down at the bottom of the tub now. He knew he needed to plug up the drain in order for the tub to fill. Seeing the rubbed plug sitting on the corner of the tub, he smiled and grabbed it, shoving it down into the drain with a satisfying squelch. The water began rising, and he knew he'd gotten it correct. Now he just had to find the…

A bottle sat on the other edge of the tub, a smiling child in a tub of bubbles on the front. Harry grabbed it, pulled the stopper out of the top and poured some into the tub. Bubbles expanded from where he had poured it and he laughed, adding more and more, wanting toooons of bubbles. He put the stopper back on the bottle and set it back in its place on the edge of the tub.

Harry watched as the tub filled, the water getting deeper, the bubbles more numerous. He let it fill nearly all the way to the top and then turned off the faucet, not wanting the water to spill over the edge and get everywhere. He figured Padfoot and Moony wouldn't be very happy if he made a mess when he was supposed to be getting cleaned up. He shucked off his pajamas and put them in the hamper beside the sink, knowing that that was where they went.

He was about to get into the tub when he remembered. His boat! And his duck! He couldn't very well take a bath without his toys. He dashed from the bathroom and into the playroom. He grabbed up his boat and duck. He took them back to the bathroom and dropped them happily into the tub. There. Now it was a good bath.

Harry had one leg in the tub when Padfoot came wandering down the hallway, still wearing his pajamas. He paused, one hand against his eye, obviously rubbing sleep away from it, the other wide as he looked at his godson. "Harry, what're you up to?"

"I… I…" Harry faultered. Had the bath been a bad idea? Padfoot didn't look as pleased as Harry had thought he would be to have found Harry already having a bath. "You always gib me a bath in da mornin'."

"That I do. But you really shouldn't take a bath by yourself, Harry. It's not safe." Sirius shook his head and lifted the little boy, hugging him tightly to him. He was lucky to have woken up when he did. To think of what might have happened otherwise… He set the boy down in the tub and sat down on the toilet.

"Why not?"

"Because if you slipped and fell, you could get hurt, not to mention drown if you went under the water."

"Drown?" Harry gulped, looking down at the water worriedly. He knew drowning was bad, but not quite what it was.

"Yeah. You go under the water and don't come back up, ever. It's not as likely to happen in the bath, but it can." Sirius said firmly, grabbing the shampoo bottle and squirting some into his hand. He didn't want to seem harsh, but water and little kids were serious business. He wanted Harry to understand that it was serious. "I just don't want anything to hurt you, ok? So no more trying to take baths by yourself, Harry. That'll be one of our rules, actually, as soon as Moony is up, we should probably go over some other rules as well, alright? Not bad rules, just things you need to do to be safe, alright?"

"Ok." Harry nodded, not liking being told off, but knowing it as better to be safe than it was to be naughty. He figured if Padfoot had a rule, he should probably follow it so as not to be given back to the Dursleys. Padfoot had said he would never give him back, but… you could never be too sure. Harry hung his head, frowning and not really excited about his bath anymore. He felt too badly about what he'd done. He didn't like getting in trouble.

"You're a very good boy, Harry." Sirius stated kindly, noticing his godson's lack of enthusiasm with his bath toys and the copious amount of bubbles. "Rules are meant to keep you safe, that's why we have to have them."

"No asking questions." Harry opted as an example. "No crying. No eating before Dudley. No breaking toys. No banging on the cupboard door."

"Well, we won't have those kinds of rules." Sirius shook his head, understanding a little better as to why the idea of rules was bothering Harry. The rules the Dursleys had given him were those of the intolerable sort. The kind that anyone would have trouble with, especially a four year old. "We'll have better rules, good rules. And sometimes the rules don't count if something is an accident, like breaking a toy or a dish. Forget the rules the Dursleys gave you."

"Ok." Harry nodded, feeling a little better now. Different rules from the Dursley's. That would be nice, and then he wouldn't have to worry so much about breaking them.

"Alright. Well, you go ahead and play for a bit." Sirius smiled, splashing Harry and making the boy laugh. "I've got something fun to show you though, after breakfast."

"You do?"

"Oh yeah, it's a surprise."

"A surpise!" Harry was paying close attention now, his eyes wide with excitement at the idea of a surprise. He enjoyed surprises now that he associated them with happy things… like the surprise of Padfoot rescuing him from the Dursley's house. Harry stood up in the tub, climbing out and slopping water onto the floor. "I'm clean!"

"You are." Sirius chuckled and tugged a towel down over Harry, grinning. It was shaped like a poncho, yellow with wings jutting out of the shoulders. He pulled the hood up over Harry's head and smiled, looking down at the boy clad as a duck. Harry giggled, looking at himself in the floor length mirror on the back of the door.

"I'm a ducky! Quack quack!" Harry danced about as Sirius patted him dry with his towel and then picked him up. They went to his bedroom to get him dressed. Sirius tugged a red t-shirt striped with gold over Harry's head, a cape attached to the collar of it. He gave him a pair of denim shorts, knowing it would be hot out today, and a pair of little brown sandals. Harry beamed as he discovered he was able to do up the back strap of his sandals. They were Velcro. And then Harry picked to wear his conductor's hat, liking it the best.

Downstairs, Sirius gave Harry a bowl of cereal and Remus joined them shortly, freshly showered. "Going to show him at last?" Remus laughed, tugging at Harry's cape gently and ruffling the boy's hair good morning.

"Show me what?"

"You'll see." Sirius grinned. "I'm going to take a shower, but then we'll go out to the backyard and I'll show you your surprise."

"Okay!" Harry laughed and slopped a bit of milk on the table in his excitement. He bit his lip, reaching to wipe it up, but Remus just waved his wand, siphoning it away to some unseen place.

Harry was anxious. He wanted to know what the surprise was really bad. He tried to take his time eating his cereal, but it didn't last long. He ended up sitting on the floor beside the screen door out to the back garden. He couldn't wait.

When Sirius finally came back down into the kitchen, he was carrying the little broom that had been in Harry's playroom. Harry eyed it curiously, but Sirius just scooped him up and they headed out into the back garden, Remus following after them with a knowing smile on his face.

The back garden was an enchanting place, even for an adult. Flowers and trees were everywhere. A small pond full of brightly colored fish and ringed with a rainbow of stones sat off to one side and a stone path wound around here and there. Harry almost squirmed out of Padfoot's arms at the sight of the wooden swing hanging from one of the trees. He wanted to play on that right then, but Padfoot just shook his head and set him down on the grass, holding out the broom.

"I have to clean?" Harry frowned, disappointed at this. He had cleaned at the Dursley's and while it kept his aunt from yelling at him too much, he hadn't enjoyed it really. It wasn't fun to clean…

"This broom isn't for cleaning." Padfoot grinned and handed it to Harry. "You're going to ride it."

"Dat's silly, Padfoot." Harry shook his head. Brooms couldn't be ridden, even he knew that.

"It's magic." Sirius laughed, lifting Harry up and dropping the broom. It hovered about a foot from the ground and Harry stared at it, astounded. Sirius placed him down on it. "Wizards and witches ride brooms. We do it to travel and for fun. Today, I'm going to teach you all about your daddy's most favorite thing, well, besides your mum that is. Quidditch."

"Quidditch?" Harry asked curiously, his hands gripping the broom. Somehow, it felt… safe, being on the broom. It was almost as if he had been on one before…

"Oh yeah. It's a game we play on bro-" Sirius stopped dead as Harry shot forward on his broom. He had remembered the picture he'd seen of his mummy. He had been on a broom before, years ago… He'd seen himself as a baby flying on one. And somehow, his body knew how to do it still.

"I can fly!" Harry laughed, turning circles around Padfoot and Remus as they laughed back at him. The boy was a natural. "Lookit me, Padfoot! Lookit me, Moony! I can fly! I'm a wizard!" Harry laughed louder, steering his broom to go around the garden. This was better than any swing would ever bed. He could really fly! His toes skimmed the grass, but he was in the air, and he didn't have to walk. He decided right then, that this was his favorite thing to do too, just like his daddy.

"Alright, Harry! That's awesome!" Padfoot whooped, pumping a fist in the air in excitement as how well his godson had taken to the broom. He knew he'd be alright on it, having done just fine as a one year old. And if a one year old Harry could do it, a four year old definitely could. "Come over here, and I'll teach you about Quidditch, and then we can have a game."

"Ok!" Harry shot over to Padfoot, hovering happily in front of him.

"Alright, so, the first thing you need to know about Quidditch, is that there as usually seven players and four balls. The Keeper who guards the goals. The three Chasers who throw a ball called a Quaffle and try to get it through the goals. Two Beaters who hit two big black balls called Bludgers. The Bludgers tries to knock everybody off of their brooms. And then there's the Seeker, he flied around trying to catch the Golden Snitch, which is a teeny tiny little golden ball with wings. When he catches it, the game is over. Got it?"

"Mhm!" Harry nodded, liking the sound of it.

"Alright! Well, your dad was a Chaser. Would you like to play Chaser and I'll play Keeper? You can try and get the ball through the goal."

"Ok!" Harry nodded and Sirius got out a large scarlet ball. He led Harry over to where a single hoop on a stick was sticking out of the ground. It wasn't very tall, about four feet off of the ground, just high enough for Harry to try and toss the Quaffle through.

Harry took the scarlet ball from Padfoot, and had to have Remus hold him steady on his broom, not yet having the coordination he needed to hold onto it and the ball at the same time. The ball was too big for just one of his hands anyway. He laughed, tossing it at the goal hoop and Sirius feinted to block it.

"Oh! Harry1 Good job!" Sirius laughed, watching as the ball went through the hoop.

"I did it!" Harry beamed proudly and Remus let go of him, letting him shoot around the hoop to give the ball a kick from his broom. "I got a point!"

"You got ten points! In Quidditch, every goal is worth ten points."

"Wow!" Harry beamed, even prouder of the big number of points he had gotten by shooting the Quaffle through the hoop. He knew ten was a pretty big number. And to get that many points, that was really good!

The three wizards spent the entire morning and well into the afternoon in the backyard. At lunch time, Sirius brought out some nice cold iced tea for them to drink as well as some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Harry didn't want to get off of his broom to eat, but he did, if only to devour his lunch incredibly fast and get right back on it before Sirius and Remus had even started in on the second half of their sandwiches.

The men watched as Harry fluttered about the garden, his red cape flying out behind him in the air. The boy had such a huge smile on his face, Sirius knew they would be spending more days like this this summer. Harry just loved the broom and it was small enough that he could ride it around his playroom of it rained.

"So, Remus. This morning I caught Harry trying to give himself a bath."

"He what!" Remus paused with his sandwich halfway to his mouth.

"I know. But he's ok. And I've told him that he has to have one of us with him at all times when he's in the bath. We've got to get some basic rules for him. I'm all for giving him freedom, but I don't want him running around like an untamed weed."

"Like you were?"

"I knew right from wrong. I just want to make sure Harry grows up knowing the same. We have the bath rule, but I think we should have a few others, just for safety's sake. Like talking to strangers, not that he's apt to do that anyway with how shy he gets around them. But still."

Remus nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. Stranger danger rules. And a few other things to keep him safe. We can add more if he does anything naughty though."

"Agreed." Sirius nodded, smiling as Harry did circled around the tree with the swing now, his hair whipping in the wind. Damn he loved that kid, he didn't know what he would do if anything happened to him.

* * *

Phew. Sorry about that wait, guys. The Hunger Games are distracting and my train is flipping awesome. And I finished this days ago but FF hasn't been letting me add chapters. But don't worry, I'm back to paying attention! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and lemme know what you thought! I love hearing from you.

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	10. Barbeque

Disclaimer: JKR is amazing.

* * *

**His Boy**

_Chapter Ten: Barbeque_

"So we'll probably have to enlarge the outdoor table." Remus grinned as he sipped his coffee, his hair still a mess from sleep. "And duplicate some chairs."

"Seven kids total! Man, they went at it like rabbits!" Sirius laughed, nearly spilling Harry's pancakes as he put them down on the little guy's plate. Harry frowned.

"Went at what, Padfoot?"

"Well, there's a reason it's called 'The Burrow'." Remus stated nonchalantly and cutting up Harry's pancakes for him. "But it will be wonderful… all these young ones... I believe Molly said they ranged in age from three to thirteen, but it'll just be the two youngest staying over, the Lovegoods are coming as well, and Jean Granger is going to drop Hermione off around ten. And Frank and Alice's little boy, Neville, is coming as well with his grandmother, Dumbledore recommended inviting them. Let's see… counting the Weasley's two youngest children, we'll have…"

"Six kids for the sleepover. I'm a bit worried about Hermione coming all the way from London, but Jean said she's a very good and brave little girl so we shouldn't have a problem. And the others' parents are only a Floo away."

"I know she's on Dumbledore's list but are you sure inviting a little Muggleborn girl was a good idea? I mean, she might be a bit shocked…"

"She's four, Moony, besides… she'll be as bound to do accidental magic as any of the others. No sweat."

"Paaadfoot! Went at what?" Harry stated again once the conversation had lulled slightly, his curiousity peaked still. He was very excited that his 'mione, his Luna, and that boy from the hospital waiting room were coming to stay the night at his house as well as two other children he hadn't met yet. They were also going to be having a barbeque with some of the other kids' parents. He wasn't so keen on that particular idea.

"Building the house of course." Sirius stated simply, lying right through his teeth. He didn't want to have to explain that particular part of life to his godson just yet. He was still just a preschooler after all.

"Oh." Harry nodded, satisfied with the answer and looking up at the clock that hung on the wall above the window above the sink. "Is it ten yet, Padfoot?"

"Not yet, we've got a couple more hours until Hermione gets here. But in the mean time, why don't you go out to the back garden and fly your broom around for a bit?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded brightly, excited. It had been just under a week since Padfoot and Moony had shown him how to fly and he had gone out every day since. The weather was sunny and bright, one of those perfect summer Saturdays that felt just wonderful. He ate at his pancakes faster, wanting to finish and get to his broom.

"Slow down!" Remus laughed, reaching over and patting Harry on the back. "If you hurry, you might choke. Besides, you've still got to get dressed before you can ride your broom."

"Can I wear my Quidditch shirt?"

"Sure ya can, they're your clothes, your pick."

"Alright!" Harry punched a fist in the air and finished eating his breakfast before he raced upstairs. He loved his Quidditch shirt with the cape. As soon as his plate was clear, he shot from the table, his bare footsteps echoing up the stairs only moments later. Sirius laughed.

"He's so much like James."

"And twice as much like Lily." Remus added, grinning himself. Harry was the perfect balance between the two almost, though his inner nature seemed to be that of his mother… his kindness towards the world around him.

Harry spent the morning shooting around the garden on his broom, a shrunken Quaffle under his arm, his conductor's hat on his head. Sirius brought his pedal train out of the house and set it down on the concrete path that circled the garden and all of its flowerbeds, giving the train a 'track' to run on.

When the doorbell rang at a quarter after ten, Harry heard it. He nearly toppled off of his broom in his haste to get to the front door, knowing that it had to be Hermione. He dropped his broom to the grass and ran inside, overtaking Padfoot in the hallway. The older man laughed, right behind his godson as the little boy grasped the large doorknob with both hands and tugged it open.

"Harry!" Hermione squealed brightly, hugging him as soon as she spotted him.

"Ah! Welcome!" Sirius beamed brightly, offering his hand to shake Mrs. Granger's. "We're so happy you could make it, are you sure you can't stay for lunch?"

"Afraid not. I've got a root canal at one." Mrs. Granger smiled and shook his hand. "If anything comes up though…"

"We'll call you right away."

"I'll be fine, Mummy." Hermione stated boldly, smiling up at her mother and nearly rolling her eyes at her worry. "If you need to, you can give me a ring before bedtime so you're not so scared." Mrs. Granger laughed and hugged her daughter, giving her a kiss.

"Alright, darling. You be sure to mind your manners and do as you're told, understood?"

"I understood the last six times, Mummy." Hermione stated cheekily, kissing her mother's cheek and hugging her round the neck tightly.

"And if you get homesick you can always…"

"…give you and Daddy a ring."

"Well, we won't have time for getting homesick, we're going to be having too much fun, right Harry?" Sirius asked, patting his godson's hair back.

"Mhm!" Harry nodded, clapping his hands together. "I gots all my toys ready and lots of books and we're gonna has a puppet show too!"

"See Mummy? Books and puppet shows. I'll be fine."

"Alright sweetheart." Mrs. Granger nodded and hugged her daughter tighter, covering her in kisses. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mummy. Have a good root canal!"

"Have a nice sleepover."

"Ok! Bye Mummy!" Hermione waved at her as Harry grabbed her hand, leading her away towards the stairs. He wanted to show her all of his books. Sirius smiled and took Hermione's overnight bag and pink sleeping bag from a teary Mrs. Granger.

"I'm not sure about this… she's so excited now… but later… when it's bedtime…"

"Remus and I will make sure she's well looked after, Jean, don't you worry. She'll have plenty of company and Remus is one awesome story teller."

"I know you will. Harry is such a happy little boy, that takes good parenting. I just worry… she's my only baby…"

"We'll call you with hourly updates."

"Oh, that would be wonderful!" Jean nodded, looking a little bit more relieved at the idea of knowing how her most precious possession was doing on her very first sleep over. "If I'm with a patient, just leave a message with my secretary. I'll make sure she writes down everything you say, word for word."

"And she'll never be the wiser unless she asks to call you."

"Yes! Oh, perfect!" Mrs. Granger nodded and gave Sirius a very quick hug. "Thank you. She's so happy about this… the kids at her preschool don't really pay her much attention unless it's to pick on her… she's too well spoken for them I think… so smart and reading already… sometimes I worry about her social skills… Harry makes her feel so much more like a normal four year old."

"Harry loves that she can read. It's all he's talked about since we first told him she was coming. That and asking which books we thought she'd like the most."

"That's such a relief." Mrs. Granger beamed and shook his hand. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow around noon then."

"Aye aye." Sirius nodded and waved as she walked back to her car. He watched her drive off before closing the front door and listening to the giggles coming from upstairs. He grinned… they were going to have a blast.

"OH! You have lots of books, Harry!" Hermione squealed excitedly as she looked at the bookcase in his bedroom. Harry puffed his chest out proudly and selected one of the books from the shelf.

"My Moony teachded me how to read da words in dis one." Harry plopped down on the floor, ready to show off his skills. He'd been working hard at sounding out the words with Moony's help, but he was pretty sure he could at least get through the first couple of pages without help now. And the pictures on the bottom of each page helped a lot. He pointed to the first word. "Cat."

"Cat!" Hermione clapped proudly, sitting down on the floor beside him and pointing to the next word.

"Rat." Harry grinned at her.

"Bat." Hermione grinned pointing to the bat on the page and then to the next word, looking to Harry to read it. He frowned. Moony hadn't gone over this one yet…

"I dunno dat one yets."

"Let's sound it out, then." Hermione stated kindly, pointing to each letter in turn. "D… Duh."

"D... Duh."

"O… Aw.'

"O… Aw."

"G... Ga."

"G… Ga…. D duh a aw g ga duh aw ga... duhawga… dog!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, pointing to the picture of the doggy at the bottom of the page.

"Right!" Hermione nodded and rose from the floor, taking the book with her and wandering over to the easel in the corner. She set the book on the table and took up one of Harry's crayons. "Let's play school. I'll be the teacher and teach you how to read, ok?"

"Ok!" Harry agreed excitedly. He sat down in one of the little yellow chairs at his table, watching as Hermione wrote different words on his big paper pad. For the next hour or so, Hermione wrote words and helped Harry sound them out, teaching him the sounds of each of the different letters as they went along. When Remus came upstairs to find him, Hermione had written a whole sentence on the pad for Harry to try out.

"Th…the… duh-aw… dog! Rrr…uh…nnn..ssss… ruhnnss… runs! Fa…fa…aaah…sss…ttt…fa..ahss..t.. fast! The dog runs fast." Hermione squealed, hugging him as he got it right after trying a few times before. Remus clapped proudly.

"Well done, Harry! You're reading!" Remus scooped him up out of his chair and hugged him tightly, very happy. "And a good job, Hermione, for teaching him so well."

"Thank you." Hermione beamed proudly.

"Well, guys, the rest of our guests are here for the barbeque, why don't we head down to the back garden and make some new friends?"

"Yeah!' Harry nodded excitedly. He wanted to meet these two new kids that were supposed to be spending the night tonight with them and see Luna and that Neville boy who liked blocks. The three of them trooped downstairs and through the kitchen, heading out into the garden where Sirius had the grill going and had enlarged a table to seat them all.

Harry's eyes widened as he stepped out onto the back step. Everywhere he looked all he could see was red hair. On his swing, on his train, even on his toy broomstick. A flash of red shot past him in the form of an older boy whooping, chasing after a Frisbee followed by another boy a bit younger, but still just as brightly locked.

"Harry, Hermione, this is Mr. and Mrs. Weasley."

"Why hello there dears." Harry looked up to find a very kind faced woman with startling red hair smiling down at him. He gulped and dashed behind Sirius, feeling shy as he always did when confronted with new adults.

"It's alright, Harry. They won't hurt you."

"It is very nice to meet you young lady." Mr. Weasley crouched down and offered Hermione his hand. She took it with a winning smile.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Weasley. I'm Hermione."

"Oh, what a lovely name, Hermione." Mrs. Weasley smiled and patted her head affectionately. "You must meet my Ginny. Oh… Ginny!" She called across the yard. A small streak of red and blue came flying across the green grass, coming to a halt at her mother's side. Ginny Weasley was all pigtails and freckles, dirt smudging her face and grass stains on her dress, feet bare.

Harry's eyes widened and he peeked out from behind Sirius's legs, nearly falling over in his haste to get a better look at the girl. He had never seen any girl on the planet with hair that red, nor the ability to get so fantastically messy. All the girls he had ever come across were fairly clean, even Luna had gotten her hands washed by her mother after they'd painted… but this new girl… she looked like she wouldn't get her hands washed until it was time to eat at least!

"Hermione, this is my Ginny. Ginny, dear, this is… oh where did you put your shoes this time? Oh dear… well… this is Hermione. Say hello."

"Hello!" Ginny laughed, hands behind her back and leaning forward on her tip toes to grin at Hermione.

"It's nice to meet you, Ginny." Hermione seemed slightly taken aback for a moment before she smiled and stuck out her hand to the smaller girl. Ginny grasped it, but didn't shake. Instead, she dragged Hermione off in the direction of the swing, the older girl stumbling to keep up. Harry forgot to be afraid and went after them. He wanted to play with the red headed Ginny girl too.

Sirius laughed, watching how his godson's eyes got really large when he spotted the Weasley's only daughter and then at how fast he chased after her and Hermione. "Look at him go, Moony, just like his dad!"

Remus laughed as well, nearly spewing lemonade out of his nose in his fit of hysterics.

"Pardon?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking quite confused as to what was so funny.

"It's just… the Potter men seem to have some strange gene that causes them to fancy redheads. Harry's dad married a red head, his father married a red head, and his father, and his father… it's an incredible and fascinating cycle."

"And it looks like the gene hasn't surpassed Harry."

"Hi." Harry stated shyly, watching as Hermione pushed Ginny on the swing, humming happily as the younger girl begged to be sent higher.

"Hi!" Ginny waved at him and stuck her feet out, making the swing come to a jarring and dusty stop. She climbed off of it. "I like cher hats."

"Thanks." Harry grinned at her and moved behind the swing as Hermione climbed onto it. He gave her a push and Ginny joined him, both of them pushing one side and sending the swing a bit lopsided.

"Hi!" A squeal emitted from a little boy as he ran across the lawn towards them, falling over his feet and tumbling to the dirt. He laughed and pushed himself up. "Hi Harry."

"Hi Neville! I gotted my blocks out so we can builds a big big big tower." Harry pointed towards the patio where his blocks were. Moony had said he would have a hard time building on the grass, but that the patio would be perfect.

"Oh! I love blocks!" Hermione slowed the swing down, coming slowly to a stop and climbing off of it.

"HAWWY!"

"Luna!" Harry waved at her as she came running for them, tackling him down to the grass and hugging him tightly.

"Hihi brodda."

"Hihi sissy. Dis is 'mione, an' Neville, an' Ginny."

"I'm fwee!" Luna stated proudly, announcing it to all of her new companions.

"I'm fwee too!" Ginny squealed, hopping up and down excitedly and grabbing Luna's hand. "Let's make muddy piesies!"

"Otay!" Luna laughed and the two girls dragged one another off towards the corner of the garden where a pair of identical older boys were building something out of the mud they'd created with the garden hose.

Harry grinned and turned to follow Hermione and Neville to the blocks, but was distracted by yet another streak of red from the corner of his eye. He stopped and turned around, but he couldn't see where it had come from. He frowned and circled the tree, wondering if the redness was on the other side of it. He yelped as he ran into a boy almost exactly the same size as him.

"Ow!"

"Ouchie!" Harry flopped backwards on the grass. He rubbed at his nose for a minute and then looked up at the other boy. His clothes were old, worn out and looking as though they'd seen better days, but not the least bit holey. The knees of his jeans had patches on them though and just as many grass stains as Ginny. They had to be brother and sister, actually, now that Harry thought about it, maybe all the red heads he'd seen today were Ginny's brothers. They all looked fairly alike.

"Hi. I'm Harry."

"Ronnie." The red headed boy stated, rubbing at his forehead and then grinning at Harry quite friendlily. "This is cher house, right?"

"Mhm." Harry nodded and stood up, offering a hand to Ronnie who grabbed it. They both tugged him up off of the ground. Harry looked around and noted that his train was no longer occupied. He pointed to it. "Wanna play?"

"Yeah, sure!" Ronnie beamed and ran for the train, Harry chasing after him. Ron climbed onto the front of the train and Harry climbed into the car. He took off his hat and set it on his new friend's head.

"You gotta wear da 'ductor's hat to drive." Ronnie grinned and pulled the hat fully onto his head. He put his feet on the pedals and began to chug them along, both of the boys making the sound effects a real train would make. Harry pointed to the oldest red haired boys he could see. "Are dose your broddas?"

"Yep." Ronnie nodded, stopping his pedaling and pointing. "Dat's Bill, he's firteen, and Charlie, he's eleven. And dat one over dere is Percy…" He wrinkled up his nose motioning first to the Frisbee playing boys and then to a bespectacled boy sitting quietly at the table with a book. "He's eight. And Fred and George are six." He pointed over at the identical boys playing in the mud with Luna and Ginny. "And dat's my sista, Ginny. She's three today, but I'm four."

"I'm four too!" Harry laughed excitedly, not able to imagine having so many brothers and sisters. He figured he could point out to other kids to Ronnie though. He pointed over at Hermione and Neville who had gotten a good start on their block tower. "Dat's 'mione and Neville… and dat's Luna. She's my make-believe sissy."

Ron nodded appreciatively and turned around on the train seat to talk to Harry better. "D'you like Quidditch?"

"Yes!" Harry beamed and pointed over to his toy broom that was leaning against the tree Ronnie had been behind. He must have been playing with it, but Harry didn't mind. He liked Ronnie. "What's cher faborite color?"

"Orange. You?"

"Red. Amimal?"

"Lion."

"Me too!" Harry laughed and Ron started to pedal again, both boys quite happy with their choice of companion for the time being. Harry thought Ron was a lot of fun so far. And he was a really good pedaler and he liked lions too.

"Lunch time!" Mrs. Weasley called, her voice able to echo though the entire garden due to a lot of practice. With seven children, one had to be able to make themself heard over the din. Toys were dropped and feet ran for the table, the Weasley children knowing what would happen if they didn't do as their mother said. They were hungry anyway. Harry grabbed hold of Ronnie's hand and they made their way over to the table together, making sure to get seats beside one another. "Hands."

Harry watched curiously as Mrs. Weasley went down the table, tapping her wand against each of the children's hands in turn. Harry's eyes widened as he watched the dirt and grime disappear from Ronnie's hands… even the dirt under his nails was gone! Mrs. Weasley bent down and pressed her lips against her son's cheek, blowing against it and making the little boy laugh and hug her around the neck. Harry decided he wasn't scared of her anymore. Anyone who could do fun raspberry's against cheeks was ok in his book.

Harry looked down at his own dirty hands and held them up to Mrs. Weasley. She was Ronnie's mum, he'd realized, which meant she had to be nice. Ronnie seemed to like her well enough. Harry offered up his own hands to her, beaming as she tapped her wand against them. He felt a tickling warmth spread throughout his hands and he laughed, watching as they automatically were cleansed. He wondered if Padfoot knew that spell, it would make it so he wouldn't have to take baths… but then… he did enjoy his baths.

Hermione had taken the seat to Harry's other side, and she was watching Mrs. Weasley with the utmost curiosity. Harry had never seen her look so confused about anything, so he decided he'd help her out. He pointed to Mrs. Weasley's wand. "It's magic."

"Magic?"

"Mhm! My Padfoot and Moony are magic too. And they say I'm magic, and Luna is magic, and Neville is magic."

"My whole family's magic." Ronnie stated, leaning forward to get a better look at Hermione. He stared at her, tilting his head to one side. "You're a Muggle isn't you?"

"I…" Hermione looked even more confused, and she frowned at the name Ronnie had called her. She glared at him. "Well, you… you're… you're a... a… a hiney-head!" She burst into tears, burying her face in her arms.

Sirius, spotting trouble, hurried over and lifted the tearful Hermione up and out of her seat. She got called so many names at school... "What's going on over here?"

"He called me a Muggle, Mr. Black." Hermione stated, rubbing at her eyes. She was quite embarrassed for crying in front of her friends.

"Oh, well being a Muggle isn't a bad thing, Hermione." Sirius chuckled, giving her a hug. "But you're not a Muggle. You're just Muggleborn."

"Muggleborn?"

"It means you're a witch with non-magic parents."

"I'm not a witch."

"Sure you are. You ever do strange things that you're not sure how you did them?"

"Yes… sometimes." Hermione nodded, her brown eyes getting bigger and bigger at the very idea. Her! A witch! Wow…

"There you are then. You're magic. Everyone here is a witch or wizard, sweetheart." Sirius patted her back and set her back down in her chair. Hermione nodded, picking up her napkin and dabbing at her eyes politely. "But you must keep it a secret, alright? Your mummy and daddy can't know until you're eleven."

"Alright." Hermione nodded, feeling much better now that she understood. She frowned. "Mr. Black, you should probably give me a time out. I called Ronnie a mean name. Four minutes to think about what I've done."

"I don't think that'll be necessary. How about an apology?" Sirius suggested, really not wanting to put the little girl in a time out, even if she felt she deserved one. She was quite the strange child.

Hermione nodded and leaned forward to look at Ronnie again. "I am very sorry I called you a hiney-head, Ronnie. Will you forgive me?"

"Yeah." Ronnie nodded, grinning at her cheekily. Hermione smiled back, obviously satisfied. She held her hands up to Mrs. Weasley.

"May I have mine cleaned as well, Mrs. Weasley?"

"Of course you may, dear." Mrs. Weasley smiled and tapped her wand against Hermione's hands, a bit shocked at the girl's manners, but pleased all the same. If only she could get her seven to behave like that. Even Percy wasn't as well behaved as this little girl was.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The meal was fairly uneventful after that, but quite fun all the same. Hamburgers and hotdogs, potatoe salad, coleslaw, and plenty of other yummy things, like watermelon. Harry was going for his third piece of the pretty red fruit when Mrs. Weasley came out of the kitchen behind a giant floating cake shaped like a pink kitty with three candles burning on it's head. "Happy birthday to you…"

The rest of the party caught on quickly, singing and watching as the cake floated down to land on the table before a messy faced and clapping Ginny who laughed. Once the song finished, she blew out the candles.

The cake was served, its pink frosting sticking to the roof of Harry's mouth, but it was still one of the best cakes he had ever eaten. It was moist and sticky chocolate on the inside with little bits of toffee cooked in.

"Mummy made her a dolly." Ronnie stated through a mouthful of cake. He pointed over at a red haired, green dress wearing rag doll that was sitting beside Ginny's plate, its green button eyes glinting on the sun. "She likes green best and her sleepin' bag is green too."

"Ginny's staying over tonight?" Harry stated excitedly. He liked Ginny. "Are you staying too, Ronnie?"

"Yep. My sleepin' bag is orange." Ronnie stated proudly, digging his spoon into his ice cream with relish. (A/N: No, not pickle relish, it means delight.)

"Yay!" Harry laughed, nearly tossing his own spoon in his happiness. "'mione, Neville, and Luna are staying too. We're gonna sleep in my playroom and has a puppet show."

"You have a playroom?" Ronnie asked, his eyes widening as he turned his head to look at the big house curiously.

"Mhm. My cousin, Dudley, hadda playroom too. But he breakded most of his toys." Harry stated conversationally. "He didn't share. But I'll share all my toys…" Harry grinned, thinking about how much fun it was going to be to play with his toys with his friends as opposed to playing all by himself all the time. Even after the sleepover was over, he hoped he would be able to keep playing with his friends more often. He enjoyed spending time with them.

"Ok!" Ronnie nodded excitedly, eating his dessert a little faster now, wanting to be able to see what toys Harry had. He had never really played with anything that hadn't belonged to one of his older brothers before, and usually by the time it got to him, it was so beaten up that it wasn't much fun to play with anymore. His mum did her best to repair them, but there was only so much she could do after a certain point. Even a witch needed at least one of a toy truck's wheels in order to duplicate it.

When the table had been cleared and the sun was even higher in the sky than it had been, the back garden erupted in a pre-planned water war. Sirius got a sprinkler, water guns, and a bucket of water balloons he'd filled that morning out of the garden shed.

Boys lost their shirts and Mrs. Lovegood took the little girls inside to put on their bathing suits. Mrs. Weasley applied a second coat of sunscreen to her gaggle of easily burnt redheaded children. Harry laughed as Moony rubbed the sunscreen onto his back, enjoying the coolness of the lotion. It was impossibly hot out today and he'd even had to take his hat off due to the sweat it was causing.

When they got sick of being hit by water balloons by the older boys, the group of younger children convened in the fish pond, the shallow water not above any of their waists in the deepest end. The little colorful pebbles tickled Harry's toes gently, smooth and silky. He giggled, reaching down and picking up a particularly lovely green one and offering it to Ginny. "Happy birffay."

Ginny squealed and took the stone, hugging it to her chest with both hands. She set it safely on her towel spread out on the grass beside the pond. The older boys were all over on the other side of the garden, shooting one another with balloons and squirt guns. Padfoot, Moony, and Mr. Weasley had joined them. Mrs. Lovegood and Mrs. Weasley were sitting beside the pond, keeping a close eye on the little ones while Mr. Lovegood had an animated discussion with Mrs. Longbottom, Neville's Granny.

"Fissy… come heahs fissy…" Luna giggled, crouched at the edge of the pond, her hands swirling in the water as she tried to catch one of the little goldfish. The fish flitted between her fingers and she laughed louder, her delight echoing through the garden.

Harry laughed, watching her and reaching down to try and help her catch the fishy, but failing miserably. It was a very slippery fish, and he didn't think it wanted to be caught anyway. He looked over to where Ron and Hermione were having a splash war, the latter not looking too pleased that she kept getting hit in the face with water while the former looked quite thrilled. He turned his attention to Neville, who was looking down at the water nervously.

"What's wrong, Neville?"

"The fishies aren't gonna bite my toeses off is they?" Neville said at last, eyeing the fish warily.

"No. They's mouths is too lil'." Harry laughed, reaching out and grabbing Neville's hand, coaxing the other boy into the little pond. "They's nice."

"Ok." Neville nodded and climbed in, biting his lip and letting out a sigh once he was in. He laughed as one fish swam around him and then splashed at Harry. Harry giggled and splashed back, happy that his friend had finally decided to come into the pond with them.

"Everything alright over here?" A very wet and dripping Padfoot inquired as he sat down at the edge of the pond and dipped his feet into the water. Harry hurried over to climb into his lap, snuggling up against him.

"Luna's gonna try a catch a fishy and I gibbed Ginny a rock, and Ronnie is beatin' 'mione in a splash fight, and Neville isn't scared of the fishies no more. He thoughted they was gonna eat his toeses, but they don't."

Padfoot laughed at the four year old's explanation of the events taking place at the little pond and hugged him close. "Are you enjoying the pond?"

"Mhm." Harry nodded.

"Well, it's about time to be heading inside now. It's getting late and your friends' parents are going to be leaving soon. They'll probably want to tell them good night before they do. We can play more games after."

"Ok." Harry nodded and climbed off of Padfoot's lap. He helped him gather his friends and they all wrapped up in towels, drying off. The barbeque may be ending, but the sleepover was just beginning.

* * *

Yay! Another one! Heh, so, I was all 'crap, when was Ginny's birthday?' so I checked, and hocrap, it's the following Saturday, which is the exact day when I had the barbeque planned for. So, I threw it in there. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Lemme know what you thought!

Later gators, with love,

S.Q.O.


	11. Sleepover

Disclaimer: Yep. The same old stuff. JK Rowling is love.

* * *

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Eleven: Sleepover_**

"Yeeeeeeh!" Ginny squealed as she gripped Harry around the waist tightly. He was zooming around the back garden on his play broom, giving the other kids who weren't so sure about it rides. Neville had kept falling off and Hermione had lasted about five seconds before she'd wanted down. Ron could ride it fine by himself, and Luna had taken an extra long turn. Ginny's hair whipped out from behind her as Harry circled one of the larger trees. Harry was feeling quite proud of himself for being able to fly his friends around. If they all had had brooms maybe they could have played a game of three on three Quidditch, but that wasn't going to be happening any time soon.

"Alright kids, it's time for…. Marshmallows!" Remus called from the patio and there was a great squealing of pre-schoolers as they came running from the grass. Harry flew the broom over, stopping and letting Ginny off before he climbed down and joined them all around the grill. Sirius handed out sticks he had taken from the trees earlier and sharpened the ends of with a simple spell. He placed a marshmallow on each and Harry looked at it curiously. Aunt Petunia wasn't one for messes, so marshmallows had never really found their way into the house unless to be used in one of her recipes.

"What we gonna do widdit, Padfoot?" He asked, watching as Hermione stpped forward and held her stick with the marshmallow over the grill.

"We're roasting them, Prongslet." Sirius explained kindly. He'd been introduced to the idea of roasting marshmallows later in life, when Lily had spent the summer before seventh year with them at the Potters after her parents had died. It hadn't been her first choice of course, but no one else would take her out of fear. She and Remus had been on fairly good terms, so the Potters had welcomed her with open arms, just as they had Sirius the year before. Sirius was sure it was one of those things that Lily would have wanted Harry to learn.

"Oooh…" Harry grinned watching as Hermione's marshmallow began to brown. She rotated it around and then turned her head to smile at him, pointing with one finger.

"My parents and I roast marshmallows when we go camping." She explained simply, letting her marshmallow roll around and around, browning further. When she was finished, she held it up to Sirius who took it and placed it on the littleplastic blue plate sitting on the table. Remus had shrunken the table back down to it's regular size while they'd been inside and put plates out based on each child's sleeping bag.

Hermione went to the table and poked at her marshmallow, waiting for it to cool a bit in the balmy evening air before she ate it. The other kids had been paying attention, having never roasted marshmallows themselves. They all looked at one another and Ron nodded, stepping forward and holding his stick out over the grill. He turned his head and grinned at the others."This is easy."

Feeling more secure about it now, the four remaining kids joined him, a little scuffle taking place between Ginny and Neville as they tried to get their marshmallows over the same flaming spot.

"Woah woah woah, careful now. It's hot and you don't want to get burnt." Remus said, pulling them apart."Ginny, Neville had that spot first, you can put yours over here, it's just as hot."

Ginny made a face, opening her mouth to say something, but Ron nudged her. "Mum said to be good, amember?"

Ginny sighed and blew a raspberry at her brother, opting for doing as Remus said. She didn't want to get in trouble… but at barely three she still wasn't very good at sharing… especially when she had so many older brothers who she got tired of sharing with once in a while.

"Thatsa girl." Remus smiled and patted her on the head, hoping the praise for not arguing would help. Ginny beamed up at him, apparently pleased for being praised.

They spent the rest of the time when the sun was still up roasting marshmallows, getting sticky, and laughing about it happily. The sun was setting slowly, giving the whole backyard a lovely orange glow before it got dark completely, the only light remaining in the back yard being that of the hot coals in the grill, and the lights shining out through the house's windows.

"Who wants to catch fairies?"

"Oh! I do dat wid my Gwan!" Neville stated excitedly now, reaching for a jar. He took it happily and then hesitated at the edge of the patio. He frowned and held his hand out. Noting that he seemed nervous about the dark, Harry took his jar and then Neville's hand.

"We can do it agedder, Neville."

"Otay." Neville beamed at him and together, they ran out into the dark yard, chasing after the little colorful flickering lights that dotted the yard. "We gotsa be gentle." Neville explained as he crouched down and herded one of the lights into his jar ever so carefully and then popped the lid down on it.

Harry stared at it and found himself looking at a tiny little creature. It was shaped almost like a person, only it was yellow and emitting the same color light. It had fluttering wings and didn't seem the least bit surprised at being captured. The fairy sat down in the bottom of the jar and waved at them. Harry waved back.

"Dey like us kids." Neville explained knowledgably. "My Gwan lets me keep one at night for a fairy light in da dark, but we lets it go in da mornin'. Dey liketo help."

"That they do and in return we give them honey." Sirius smiled, peering in at Neville's fairy. "Fairies are children's friends. Their light keeps away boggarts and other scary things at night. We keep the lids on the jars so that the boggarts can't get to them. But you must always let them go when you wake up, otherwise they'll get mad and not let you catch them anymore. Harry, why don't you find one as well?"

"Ok!" Harry nodded brightly and took his jar, dashing about the garden until he spotted a flickering in one of the bushes. He pushed back some of the branches and smiled, finding a purple fairy dancing about there. He opened his jar and brought it into the bush, remembering what Neville had said about being gentle. He ushered the fairy into his jar and smiled at her. "You wanna be my light anight and keep away da scary things?"

The fairy nodded and Harry beamed, popping the lid down on the top of the jar. "And I'll keep chu safe from the boggywarts." The fairy seemed to laugh as she lounged down on the bottom of the jar. Harry took her over to Sirius proudly.

"Lookit, Padfoot! I got one!"

"Great job, Harry!"

"Me got one!" Luna squealed excitedly, coming running across the yard, a pink light bouncing in her hands. "Hawwy! I gots one too!"

Harry admired Luna's fairy as she held up her jar brightly, smile wide with absolute pride that she'd managed it. "She's pretty, sissy."He poked at the jar and Luna grinned eve wider.

"Gween, Wonnie. Gween!" Ginny was squealing at her brother as they chased after a whole slew of fairies. Ronnie had caught himself a blue fairy, but was trying to help Ginny get a hold of her desired green one.

"Got it! Here, Ginny." Ronnie grinned and handed her the now green glowing jar and she squealed in absolute pleasure. Hugging her jar close, Ginny made for the patio, the dark grass cool on her bare feet.

Remus rounded the kids up after they'd each caught a fairy of their own. The sky was dark and it was definitely time to be getting little ones into their pajamas and settled down enough for bed. Ushering them all inside proved to be more difficult than he could have fathomed.

"I wanted anudder go on da broom." Ron stated, looking up at the werewolf pleadingly, but Remus shook his head.

"Me too!" Ginny and Luna shouted together.

"Not tonight. It's too dark to be flying around. It's time to get our jammies on and have a puppet show."

"Puppet show!" Neville ran into the kitchen, his heels practically kicking up dust in his excitement. For him, puppet shows were extraordinary things where nothing bad ever happened because the puppets were always good. He and his Gran did lots of puppet shows for his mummy and daddy when they went to visit them at St. Mungo's. And then his mum would give him a gum wrapper.

Once Sirius and Remus had the hoard inside the house, they split the boys and girls up, sending the girls into the playroom to change into their pajamas with Remus's help if needed, and the boys into Harry's bedroom with Sirius's help.

"Alright, every one in here…" They met in the playroom, spreading out tiny sleeping bags on the floor and arguing over who was going to sleep next to who.

"I wanna sleep nexta Harry!" Ron pouted as his orange Chudley Cannon's bag was spread out on the floor beside Ginny's green flowered one.

"No, I sleep next Hawwy." Luna stated boldly, dropping her yellow sunflowered bag down beside Harry's red lioned one.

"You can both sleep on either side." Sirius laughed, shifting Harry's bag so it was between the orange and yellow one.

"No, me!" Ginny yelped, grabbing up Ron's bag and tossing it to the side to push her's into it's place.

"Ginny! I'm sleepin nexta Harry!" Ron pulled her bag out from under her and threw it in the opposite direction. Ginny screamed, jumping up and down in her white nightgown. She was still so much younger than the other kids.

"Hey!" Sirius called over the noise that was taking place. He picked up the sleeping bags from where they'd gone flying to and spread them out again. He placed Ron and Luna's next to Harry's and then ran Ginny's along the tops of Harry and Luna's. "There, now you're all next to Harry, no more arguing."

"Yay!" Ginny bounced down on her bag delightedly,

"I'll sleep next to Ronnie and Neville." Hermione stated simply, spreading her pink princessed sleeping bag down beside Ron's with ease and sitting down on top of it. She patted the foamy puzzle pieced floor of the playroom and Neville laid his bag out as well, blue with frogs. Neville grinned at her as he sat down on his bag, appearently pleased that he wasn't to be left out of the group.

"Now then, every one settled?" Remus asked as he pushed a small table out from the wall in front of them and threw a cloth over it.

"Yup, Moony." Harry grinned out from beneath his conductor's hat. It looked a bit silly with his starry pajamas, but he liked it best.

Sirius turned out the lights and then trained a muggle flashlight upon the wall above the table. It worked nicely for a spotlight as opposed to his wand. He and Remus climbed behind the table then.

A pair of puppets suddenly appeared from behind the table… a dog and a wolf. They began chasing one another around and the kids laughed, amused by the antics.

"Heeey Moony?" The dog asked, sniffing at the wolf.

"Yes, Padfoot?"

"Tell that story about the pirate again."

"Oh! Well, one daaaaay…" The wolf bounced a little bit. "I was walking down the street and I saw a pirate."

"Mhm, you saw a pirate."

"Yes. And he had a paper towel on his head."

"Why did he have a paper towel on his head?"

"Well, I asked him that, and you know what he said?"

"No, what'd he say?"

"He said: "Arrrrgh, well I uh… I got a Bounty on me head.'"

The burst of laughter from the six preschoolers was loud enough the echo in the playroom. The joke, though a bad one for any adult, was perfect for a kid. Sirius and Remus made the puppets dance about and sing and play for a little bit before they got into a story.

"Once upon a time… there was a kingdom. And the King was a Muggle. Now… the King didn't want anybody practicing magic except for him, so he proclaimed, throughout the entire land… that anyone caught being a witch or wizard would go to jail." Remus started, popping the King puppet up over the edge of the table. "But the King also called for a witch or wizard to teach him magic, but no witch or wizard would go and help him."

"I am the Charlton and I am a Muggle!" Sirius popped up another puppet. "And I am going to make the King think I am magic so he will pay me lots of gold and treasure. Do do do do do… Hello King!" The Charlton puppet hopped over to the King puppet. "I am here to teach you magic!"

"Prove to me you are a wizard first!" The King stated. The Charlton got out a bunch of cards and flipped them around. "By golly! That sure is a neat trick! I proclaim you my Sorcerer in Chief! Now then, we shall begin learning magic!"

"Oh but your Majesty…" The Charlton hopped around again. "In order to learn magic we need tools…wands and potion ingredients. And they are very expensive."

"Well here… take this!" The King handed the Charlton a full sized Galleon. "It should cover the cost!"

"Alright!" The King disappeared behind the table and the Charlton cackled. "I have fooled him! I shall take this treasure to my home and keep it safe." The Charlton disappeared and then reappeared along with a paper tree. "I shall need wands… hmmm… these will do nicely!" The Charlton broke twigs off of the tree and then disappeared again.

A small cottage was placed upon the table and an old witch appeared in the window. "My name is Babbity Rabbity. And I know exactly what the Charlton is up to. I saw him him the gold and take the twigs off of that tree. This shall be funny to watch. You can't learn magic if you're a Muggle."

The Charlton and King reappeared and danced about, holding twigs. Babbity Rabbity cackled and the King looked over at her. He then looked back at the Charlton. "Charlton, I am sick of practicing. When shall we do real spells?"

"Very soon, your Majesty. Very soon…" The Charlton tried to reassure him.

"I am a King. I should not have to practice anymore. I shall hold a demonstration tomorrow, and invite everyone in the land to come and see my new magic skills. And if anything goes wrong, it shall be your head, Charlton."

"Yes… yes, sir!" The Charlton nodded and then turned around.

"And if you run away, I will sent my hunting hounds after you!" The Charlton gulped.

"Yes sir." The King hopped away, disappearing under the table and Babbity Rabbity laughed.

The Charlton turned to look at her and ran over to her cottage. "Well, would you look at that! A witch! Washerwoman! Washerwoman!"

"Yes?" Babbity Rabbity asked, leaning out of the window.

"You shall help me tomorrow and make the King's spells work! If you do not, I will tell on you! He will have your head!"

"Very well then. But what if the King tries to do a spell that I cannot?"

"There is no spell you cannot do." The Charlton spat at her and disappeared.

"The next day, the whole Kingdom gathered to see the King's magical demonstration." Sirius set a bunch of finger puppets on the table, making them stand the best he could and then the King appeared along with the Charlton. Babbity Rabbity appeared beside a bush.

"Welcome all! To my demonstration!" The King announced. "First, I shall…. Make this man's hat disappear!" He took the Charlton's hat and gave a wave of his twig while at the same time, Babbity Rabbity waved her own real wand. The hat disappeared. "And now… I shall… make that horse fly!"

Again, the King waved his twig and Babbity waved her wand. The horse levitated up into the air a few inches and floating around the table top before it zoomed off of it and into Luna's hands. She laughed and hugged it.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" One of the finger puppets came forward pushing a doggy puppet. "Our best hunting hound has been poisoned dead. Please revive him."

"Certaintly!" The King laughed and waved his wand. Nothing happened. He waved it harder and harder until it flung out of his hand. "Charlton! Why isn't it working?"

"Over there, your Majesty!" the Chalrton pointed at Babbity. "An evil witch who is blocking your spells!"

"Get her!" The King ordered and all the little finger puppets magically rose and went after Babbity. They ran and they ran until they reached a tree that Babbity had just disappeared behind.

"She must have turned herself into a tree, your Majesty! We should cut it down!"

"Cut it down!" The King ordered and a puppet came forth with an ax. The tree was cut down and in its place, was a stump. "Ha! Now she is dead!"

A cackling came from the stump and all of the puppets jumped. "Hahaha, now you're in for it! For killing me, you shall all be forever cursed! Just ask the Charlton he'll tell you so."

"Charlton? Is this true!" The King asked angrily but the Charlton cried out.

"I do not know sir! I am not really a wizard! I'm afraid I have tricked you."

"Take him to the dungeons!" And the Charlton was taken away from the group by some of the other puppets.

"If you wish to be uncursed…" The stump laughed. "Than you shall have to erect a statue of me, your poor old washerwoman. And you must never hunt wizards and witches again, you must treat them as you treat everyone else, with kindness. Is that understood?"

"Yes! It is!" The King nodded. "Somebody get started on that statue and I need to write a new proclaimation! No more hunting the witches and wizards in this Kingdom or any other!" And the crowd disappeared along with the King, leaving just the stump. A tiny little bunny finger puppet hopped out from behind the stump. It laughed.

"Silly King, I am not dead. I am merely magicked into a rabbit!" The kids laughed and clapped, delighted with the story of Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump.

"I really liked dat story, Padfoot." Harry stated happily, peeking under the table at his godfather with a bright grin. Sirius climbed under the table and out the other side to scoop him up and give him an extra good snuggle.

"I'm glad you liked it, Prongslet. We can do more stories like that sometime, but for right now… it's getting really late. What do you lot say to a cup of cocoa before sleep time?"

"Yeah!" Ron shot up like a bullet, making for the door. He was closely followed by the rest of the pajamaed gang of preschoolers. Sirius laughed, wondering vaguely what they'd all look like in biker wear on big-wheels. He might have to suggest that for Halloween to the other parents. It would be amazing.

They all headed down to the kitchen and gathered around the table. Remus went about pouring hot milk over cocoa powder into everyone's cups. It had been his idea to do this… warm milk being good for getting little ones to sleep, or so he had heard.

"Who wants whipped cream!" Or Sirius could get them so strung out on sugar it would be hours until they actually fell asleep. He would be leaving Sirius to deal with them if that happened… full moon wasn't that far away... only a couple more days… and he would be needing to be as rested as possible. But Sirius only gave each child a dab, not enough to get them wound. And the cocoa would hopefully not be chocolately enough to do that either.

"Oh!" Neville moaned, looking down at the front of his white pajamas covered in flowers. A huge chocolate stain was spreading quickly and Remus hurried over. He gave a wave of his wand and the chocolate disappeared as fast as it had come. Neville smiled, glad he hadn't gotten in trouble. "Fank chu."

"you're very welcome. " Remus smiled. About ten minutes later there was a thump as Ginny slumped forward in the chair, her head thumping the table and knocking over a still fairly full cup of cocoa. She'd fallen asleep right there and Sirius had to grin.

"I think that's about it guys. We should probably get up to bed, huh?" There was a murmur of munity from the four year olds. No one wanted to have to go to sleep yet. "We'll have more fun tomorrow." Sirius grabbed a wet cloth and went around the table, helping wipe off chocolate mustaches and ending with Ginny. He scooped her up. "Onwards and upwards troops!"

There were a few moans and groans of protest, but Sirius and Remus got the kids sheparded back up to the playroom and into their sleeping bags. Sirius slid Ginny down into her bag and patted her head. She was a sweet little girl… all of these kids were sweet and kind. He adored having them here, but he was getting tired. He supposed it was time for him and Remus to be heading off to bed as well.

"If anyone needs anything, I'll be in the very last room at the end of the hall, alright?"

"Yup, Padfoot!" Harry nodded brightly and laid down, snuggling into his sleeping bag happily with his lion.

"My mum alllllways sings us a lullaby." Ron stated simply, looking up at Remus expectantly.

"Uh well…" Remus thought about it for a moment before he left the room and returned with Harry's little silver music box. He placed it down beside Harry who wound it up and opened it. "There now you've got a nice lullaby." Ronnie cuddled down into his bag, seeming content with this.

"Good night, Prongslet. I love you." Sirius bent down to give Harry a kiss and the little boy giggled happily as his godfather's hair tickled his cheek.

"Nigh nigh Padfoot. I love you, too."

"Good night everyone." Remus smiled and shut off the lights, leaving a ring of fairies in jars to around the kids to keep them safe. He and Sirius shut the door, the lullaby still tinkling softly.

"What great kids." Sirius sighed contently, yawning and stretching. Remus nodded in agreement.

"I'm bushed. This was a lot to take on. But it's worth it. Harry gets socialized."

"He gets friends. I don't think he had many back at the Dursleys from what he's said."

"Speaking of which…" Remus motioned him closer and they went down the hallway a bit away from the door in case any little people were still awake. "Tricia said that her department has pressed charges against them. They'll be getting a visit from her very soon. Her case is solid and she says Harry will probably have to testify against them if the Ministry has anything to say about it."

"No. He's not… he's four! And to put him in the same room as the Dursleys… that's just cruel. I won't allow it." Sirius stated, outraged.

"I know, I know…" Remus nodded, trying to calm him down. "But it may be one of the only sure fire ways to get them put away. A year or two in prison would do them so good. And that little boy of their's… well.. I don't want him affected by this, but I think he'd be better off in foster care home. Maybe he'll learn some kindness."

"I suppose… but still… have Harry testify? We'll have to talk to Tricia about that… If he needs to… then… maybe it can be in a separate room from the Dursleys."

"I'm sure that could probably be arranged. Fear not, mate, Tricia has Harry's best interests at heart. She'll do her best to make sure he's safe and not scared." Remus patted Sirius on the back and the latter nodded. They could get through this… the tough stuff… together. They were best friends after all, raising James and Lily's son.

"Good night, Moony."

"Good night, Padfoot."

* * *

I'm sorry it took so long guys! I know you've been waiting for this one to be finished, but here it is! It's not as good as I'd like, but I tried! I hope you enjoyed it and please lemme know what you tought.

Love as always,

S.Q.O.


	12. The Car

Disclaimer: We're on the twelth chapter, I think you've gotten the point by now that JK Rowling is to be thanked for her characters.

* * *

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Twelve: The Car**_

"Who's ready for a vacation?" Sirius called down the hallway. He was greeted by the yelling and squealing of his Harry, Ronnie, and Hermione. After a very successful sleepover over the weekend, Sirius and Remus had decided that maybe a nice little summer trip to the sea shore would be another fun thing to do with Harry. Harry had asked very nicely if he could have a friend come along as well (he was all about his friends now), so Remus had given the other parents a call. Luna and Neville weren't going to be able to make it and Ginny was stuck home with the chicken pox, though Mrs. Weasley had sounded thrilled at the idea of having one less under her feet while tending her youngest. The Grangers were at a dental convention, Hermione having wormed her way out of going by suggesting they allow her to go on the trip with Harry instead, which they were wary about, but had given into her in the end. Sirius had promised to make sure they called at least before or after meals. It had worked out quite well actually… as the backseat of Remus's car could fit three people without being enlarged.

The trip would also give Remus a chance to make sure the garden shed was going to hold his wolf form as well as Dumbledore said it should. The full moon was tomorrow and he would have to apparate home for it, but it would be worth it. To know that Harry was safely miles away should he break free of the garden shed made him feel better. Hagrid would be spending the night with him, prepared with a whole leg of dragon should Remus get loose.

Sirius and Remus had both agreed that it would be better to travel the Muggle way as they would be in the Muggle world for the next few days. If they needed to get somewhere quickly, they would be able to instead of having to walk and there was no underground where they were going. And since Remus did fairly well with Muggle things, he would be driving. It was his car after all, shabby and brown and rusted, but it still ran, mostly on magic.

Three little back packs and two large ones were in the boot, all packed to bursting and ready to go, nestled up against a bag of beach toys. Three booster seats had been strategically strapped into the back seat with the help of Jean Granger who had dropped Hermione off that morning. Sirius had duplicated a third for Ronnie and then transfigured it orange upon request. Harry would be sitting in the middle, Ronnie to his right, Hermione to his left to help cut back on the squabbling that Ronnie and Hermione seemed adept to getting into. Sirius didn't know why, but the two seemed to rub one another wrong at least once every hour or so, and then they would argue back and forth until they ran out of things to say, which with four year olds, wasn't very quick. They had spent two hours the morning after the sleepover going back and forth with 'Can too.' and 'Cannot.', the fight only ending when Mrs. Weasley had picked up Ronnie and Ginny.

"Up we get then, Prongslet." Sirius smiled, lifting Harry into the car and placing him in his red booster seat. Harry laughed and settled back, wriggling curiously in the seat. He'd never really been in a booster before, but he quite liked it. He could see out all of the windows. Dudley had had a seat, but the Dursleys seemed to have felt that Harry didn't need one. So he'd been left without when they were forced to take him along places, which was maybe once or twice a year.

Harry watched as Sirius buckled him in and then handed him his lion. Harry hugged it, watching as Sirius lifted Ronnie into the car now, Hermione climbing in the other side and into her pink booster seat with ease. Padfoot buckled Ronnie in, and then helped Hermione get her straps straight. She was smart and could do them herself, but she still had trouble sometimes. Afterward, Ronnie was given his old worn out teddy bear, and Hermione, her pale purple plush otter that looked as though it had seen better days as well.

"Have either of you ever been to the beach before?" Hermione asked curiously, leaning forward to look at both of them better, wrapping one hand around her otter's tail and bringing it up to her cheek before slipping her thumb into her mouth with the other. She was a big girl, but she did still have some insecurities. And her parents had told her that so long as she stopped before her teeth started falling out, they wouldn't get mad. Normally she wouldn't have sucked her thumb unless at home, but she knew Harry and Ronnie wouldn't care. They were her friends after all, even if she and Ronnie didn't get along sometimes.

"No." Harry shook his head, but grinned excitedly, kicking his sandaled feet. He was wearing his favorite red dragon shirt and blue elastic shorts today as well, and of course, his favorite conductor's hat. He'd made sure Padfoot had packed his wooden train. Beside him, Ronnie was in his typical worn out hand-me-downs, though this time he wore cut off denim shorts and a plain green shirt. No patches today, though his sneakers looked as though they were barely holding together. Hermione on the other hand, had been placed in a white and blue sailor dress with matching white patent leather Mary Janes and perfectly laced trimmed socks. A big woven white hat sat upon her head, a huge blue ribbon about it and tied into a large bow in the back. Her hair hung in a long braid down her back, tied with yet another blue ribbon.

"Mhm." Ronnie nodded at her and swung his bear around by the arm, watching it amusedly. "We builded sandy castles."

"Oh! I love sand castles!" Hermione squealed happily, clapping her feet together as her hands were busy. "My daddy and I make them in our sand box all the time. Real big ones."

"Neat." Ronnie concluded appreciatively. If there was one thing a four year old understood, it was the grandeur of a sand castle, big or small, though preferably big. That way it was even better for demolishing in a fit of absolute happiness.

"Has everybody gone to the potty?" Remus asked as he climbed into the driver's seat and pulled on his seat belt. There was a chiming of yeses from the back seat. Remus turned to look at Sirius who was climbing into the passenger seat. "Padfoot, did you remember to go to the bathroom before we…"

Sirius climbed back out of the car and ran into the house, causing a peel of laughter to erupt from the trio in the back. It was quite silly to them, an adult having not gone potty when they had all been told to do so before leaving the house.

Once Padfoot had returned to the car, they were on their way. Remus backed out of the driveway and onto the little dirt lane that would take them into the world beyond this one… one Harry had yet to see. They made it onto the motor way and about fifteen minutes south before the trials of traveling with a bunch of pre-schoolers began.

"I hassa potty." Ronnie stated quite loudly.

"Can you hold it a bit?" Sirius asked, turning around to look at the little red head. Ronnie shook his head, squirming in his seat as though he were about the burst from the sheer idea of having to hold it. "Alright, alright… Moony, can you pull over?"

"There's a rest stop coming up in a few kilometers. Just try not to think about it, Ronnie."

"Otay." Ronnie's face screwed up, his little ankles crossing as he grabbed at his shorts, trying to literally, hold it in.

"You can do it!" Harry cheered him on and Hermione nodded her encouragement as well. Ronnie's whole body scrunched up and Remus pulled off on the exit to the rest stop. He parked and Sirius bolted out of the car, pulling open the back door and undoing Ronnie's car seat straps. The little red head climbed down and out of the car, bouncing from one foot to the other.

"Hurry now…" Sirius took him by the hand and led him inside the building. Moony tugged open the other door and smiled.

"I think we should all go have a wee before we continue on, don't you?"

"I suppose that would be best." Hermione nodded, unbuckling herself with ease. Harry nodded and waited for Moony to undo his straps. They then all followed Padfoot and Ronnie inside.

"Mr. Lupin, I'm not really allowed to go into the men's room." Hermione stated as they made for the door. "I am a girl."

"It's alright this time, Hermione."

"But my mummy says there's stuff in there I'm not allowed to see."

" Here…" Moony pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and folded it up before placing it around Hermione's head like a blind fold. "Is that better?"

"Yes. Thank you." Hermione nodded and they all went into the men's room.

When they had all relieved themselves (Harry had to go worse than he had thought), they left the men's room and made their way back out to the parking lot and got loaded back into the car properly. Harry picked his lion up off of the floor and climbed into his seat. He rather enjoyed riding in the car so far.

An hour later Harry did NOT enjoy riding in the car. He was getting hot and sweaty in the back seat… Moony's air conditioner was broken, and even with the windows open it was still too hot. He frowned, kicking his bare legs restlessly. "Padfoot, it's hot."

"I know, Prongslet. Here…" Padfoot tugged out his wand and waved it, sending a jet of cool air back at Harry and the other two. They gave sighs of relief. Hermione stopped fanning herself with the hem of her dress. With another wave of his wand, Sirius rolled up the windows, letting the cool air fill the car until it was nice and decent again.

"Ooooh, that's much better, Mr. Black." Hermione sank deeper into her car seat, her eyes closing as she relished the cold air. Her thumb reentered her mouth and her otter's tail found its way back up against her cheek. She seemed quite content to just sit and enjoy the coolness of the air for a while as did the two little boys. Harry and Ron had gone from being red faced and sweating to looks of absolute unadulterated bliss.

Harry gave a giggle, reaching out his hands to place them in front of the tip of Sirius's wand. Sirius stopped blowing cool air, but instead, the end of his wand began to erupt with a thousand different colored soap bubbles that floated about the back of the car to the delight of the three four year olds.

"Oh!" Ronnie's eyes widened and he laughed, reaching his hands out to try and catch one of the bubbles. Harry was so pleased that he squealed and kicked his legs, clapping his hands for more.

"Yay, Padfoot!" He cheered, nearly doubling over with his own laughter. After a moment, bubbles began to burst from his ears making him laugh even harder. "Look what I can do! Padfoot! Look at me!"

"Wow, Harry!" Sirius laughed and prodded Remus who took a glance in the rear view mirror. He chuckled.

"Good job, mate!"

"Ooooooooooooo…." Hermione watched Harry make bubbles come out of his ears and then screwed up her face. After a few moments, bubbles shaped like flowers began to flow from her ears. She laughed happily at having been able to achieve this and then she and Harry both turned to look at Ronnie.

"Me too!" The red head stated and squirmed about for a moment before bubbles came from his ears as well, only his were teddy bears than danced for them before they popped. Fresh laughter burst throughout the car and Sirius rolled the windows back down before they were covered with too many bubbles that just didn't seem to pop fast enough. They floated out the windows and into the sky, making the car look quite the odd sight to the others around it.

"Sirius, the Statute of Secrecy!" Remus stated irritably. He always got a little extra huffy around his time of the month. James used to call it PFSing, pre-fluffy-syndrome which was then followed by post-fluffy-syndrome in which Remus was grouchy and tired and sore, going to bed early and sleeping through breakfast.

"Oops…" Sirius rolled the windows back up. "Sorry guys, we can't let the Muggles get suspicious, otherwise the Ministry will be mad that we let them see magic."

"Why can't Muggles see magic?" Harry asked curiously, tilting his head to one side. "Is it 'cause they hate it like the Dursleys?"

"Oh, no, not necessarily. See, if Muggles knew about magic, they'd be wanting magical solutions to every single one of their problems and that wouldn't be good."

"Why? Isn't helping people good?"

"Yes, helping is a very good thing, Harry. But if the Muggles grew to rely on magic to solve everything, they would never want to solve anything on their own. And magic is good, but it can't solve every little thing. Sometimes we have to figure out things without magic."

"Oh." Harry nodded, trying to seem like he understood, but he didn't really. He was only four after all.

"Like going potty." Ronnie stated out of nowhere. "Can't use magic to have a wee."

"Exactly."

"Ooooh!" Harry nodded brightly now, glad that Ronnie had a perspective he could understand.

"Who's ready for some lunch?" Remus asked after the kids were all bubbled out.

"Me me me!" Ronnie bounced up and down in his seat excitedly, eyes bright at the mention of food. Harry laughed and started bouncing as well, mimicking Ronnie.

"Me too!"

"Oh goody!" Hermione clapped her hands together. "Will there be a restroom? I think I have to wee."

"Yes." Sirius laughed watching as Hermione's face scrunched up slightly. Apparently she had to go worse than she was letting on.

"Oh good."

They pulled off of the motorway five minutes later, rolling off the exit ramp and then along a not-too-busy road until they reached what looked like a promising place for some food. It was a small building with picnic tables outside and umbrellas, and plenty of families with children.

Remus parked the car and he and Sirius helped the kids hop down and out. Harry took Padfoot's hand and then Ronnie's. Remus lifted Hermione up into his arms, carrying her on his hip as they entered the little restaurant and letting his eyes search for the bathroom. Upon spotting it, he signaled to Sirius the direction and they made for it, the four pre-schoolers traipsing along on their smaller legs.

Once they'd gotten potty time out of the way for the second time that day, Remus figured out what everyone wanted to eat and Sirius carted the kids back outside into the sunshine to find a picnic table. He took a seat and watched as the kids began to let some of their extra energy from sitting in the car for so long out. He let them run back and forth across a bit of grass near the tables.

"I'mma ebil dwagon! RAWWWWR!" Ronnie roared, chasing after Harry. Harry bolted, laughing and grabbing up a stick from the ground for a sword.

"I'mma knight! I'm gonna get chu dragon!" He swung the stick at Ronnie in a slightly menacing way, but didn't actually hit him with it. He knew from his preschool and experience with Dudley that hitting would probably make Ronnie mad at him. Hermione tried to join them for a bit but she came back over to Sirius after a while, sitting down, and heaving a sigh.

"Why aren't you playing?"

"They said I should be the princess who needs rescuing."

"Don't you like princesses?"

"Yes, but regular princesses are vastly overrated. I'd rather be a princess who can look after herself." Sirius blinked. Had a four year old just seriously used the words 'vastly overrated' properly and perfectly pronounced?

"Er… well, why don't you be that then? A knight princess."

"Ooo… Alright then!" Hermione nodded and bolted back up from the seat, running after the boys and tackling Ronnie down to the ground.

"Well, you look flabbergasted." Remus laughed as he set down one large tray of food.

"Hermione just said that regular princesses are vastly overrated. Those exact words." Sirius stated without looking up. He was still watching the kids playing. Harry was on top of the other two now who seemed to be laughing over something incredibly hilarious.

"It's all that reading. Jean said she found her sitting in the adult fiction section of the library the other day, positively immersed in Moby Dick and a dictionary. She likes knowledge."

"Well, that'll be good for when Harry starts schooling, someone to keep on his tail about his homework. You remember what James was like… and Lily was no angel either."

"That's why you guys had me." Remus laughed and sat down beside him, slinging an arm around Sirius's shoulder and giving him a noogie. "Lunchtime, guys!"

The kids looked up from their play and then came barreling over to the table, taking their seats and waiting for the two men to dole out the food. All three of them had agreed on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with sliced apples on the side (though a little persuading had taken part on the adult's part).

"Mmm…. S'good!" Ronnie said through a mouthful of sandwich, causing Hermione to make a face.

"You're supposed to chew and then chat, Ronnie." She said slightly superiorly. Ronnie stuck his tongue out at her, obviously not about to heed her advice.

"Cher not my mummy." Ronnie purposely took a big bite of his sandwich, chewed, and then held his mouth open for Hermione to see. Harry laughed, amused quite a bit by the antics of his best mates.

"Ronnie…" Remus stated warningly and Ronnie shut his mouth.

"Ohmygoodness. Are they all yours?" A pretty woman asked from the table beside theirs as she lifted a spoon to her baby's mouth. "They are right? She looks like you…" She pointed from Hermione to Remus and then from Harry to Sirius. "And he looks like you and then… he must look like the biological mother, right?"

"What?" Sirius asked in confusion.

"No." Remus shook his head, looking as though he were trying not to laugh. He bent over and whispered something in Sirius's ear. The dog's face reddened and he looked shockedly back and forth between Remus and the woman.

"We're not… we're just best mates… That one's my godson… and these are his friends… we're just watching them…"

"Oh… oh!" The woman's face went scarlet and she nearly dropped the spoon. "I am soooo sorry… I just… assumed… I mean… they do look like you… Well… I'm the idiot of the century."

"Nah, don't worry about it." Sirius grinned at her. "We love em like they're ours."

"Oooh, that's so sweet." The woman smiled and got up from her place, lifting the baby from the table where it was sitting and moving to sit on the small bench at the end of their table instead. "I'm Natalie. And this is my nephew, Jackson."

"It's nice to meet you Natalie. I'm Sirius, and this is Remus, and Harry, Ronnie, and Hermione."

"Nice to meet you." Remus smiled at her, patting a choking Hermione on the back. She coughed up her bit of apple, chewed it and then swallowed. She grinned up at the woman, all sunshine and daisies.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Natalie."

"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you as well, princess."

"Princesses are vastly overrated." Hermione stated again, simple as could be. Harry and Ronnie nodded their agreement.

"Vastly."

"Oberated."

Natalie looked slightly taken aback by this but she smiled anyway. "So, I haven't seen you guys around town before…"

"We're on our way to the beach. Just stopped for lunch."

"And t'go t'the 'otty." Ronnie informed her brightly, half chewed apple in his mouth.

The baby began to cry and Natalie bounced him up and down. "We've got to be going… it's past nap time. Again, it was nice meeting you. Have fun at the beach."

"Bye bye!"

"Have a nice day!"

"Farewell Miss Natalie. Good bye Jackson."

"See you." As soon as Natalie had bustled out of sight, staring at them with curious eyes as though she thought them strange, Sirius burst out laughing.

"She was so freaked out."

"I know." Remus chuckled and patted Hermione on the head. "You're quite precocious."

"I know." Hermione beamed up at him and then finished her sandwich, even eating the crust.

After lunch was finished and everyone made absolute positive that they did not have to go to the potty again, the gang climbed back into the car and was on their way once more.

"Are we there yet?" Harry asked as they pulled back out onto the motor way, his lion clutched tightly in his arms. He was getting bored with all of this riding in the car. He liked the getting out bits and the bits where they had had bubbles, but his bum was starting to feel woozy from all of this booster seat sitting.

"Not yet. We've got about another hour and a half before we'll be there. Why don't you lot take a nap?" Remus suggested, looking back at them in the rear view mirror.

"Nooooo naps!" Ronnie stated in protest, waving his teddy over his head. "No no no no no!"

"I'm not the least bit sleepy." Hermione stated crossly, pressing her otter's tail firmly to her cheek and mouthing her thumb.

Harry looked between his two friends and then up front at the adults. He always tried to do what Padfoot and Moony wanted him to do, and that usually involved an afternoon nap once lunch was finished. But could he really sleep in the car? And he wasn't that tired… yeah, he felt a bit woozy, but not exactly tired tired. Not like he needed a nap really. But then, if he refused to nap, like his friends were, wouldn't he get in trouble? He didn't particularly like the idea of getting in trouble, but then again, it didn't look like Ronnie or Hermione was getting in trouble for not wanting to nap, so maybe he wouldn't either? After quite a bit of internal struggle, he burst out. "Me neither."

Sirius blinked. It was the first time Harry had outrightly refused to do something suggested of him. So far, he'd played just about every game, and did every little thing Sirius or Moony told him to do, or rather, suggested he do when it came to games. He could barely hide his smile… the Healer had said when Harry started misbehaving, then he would truly trust them. But then, was this misbehaving? Or was he just doing it because neither of his friends wanted to nap? Either way, it was a step in the right direction. It was kind of weird, wanting the kid to misbehave, but also hoping he never would, but then, Sirius knew if he never misbehaved, then how could he be sure he really, truly trusted him at all?

"Alright…" He said after a minute's deliberation. "Tell you what, since today is sort of a special day, with us all being in the car, we can skip nap time."

There was a great cheering from the backseat.

"But… we will be having naps tomorrow and the next day, got it?"

"Yep." Harry nodded and Ron and Hermione made faces, but neither said a word on the matter.

"How about we have a sing along instead?"

"Yeah!" Ronnie exclaimed brightly.

"Alright, let's see…" Sirius paused for a moment, trying to think up a song. "Ah… I know!... The itsy bitsy Snitchy flew through the air. Evading all the players without a single care. When the Seeker caught up, the Snitch did stop. A hundred and fifty points put the team on top."

"Mr. Black… that's not how the song goes."

"Yes it is!" Ronnie burst out.

"Noooo! It's the itsy bitsy spider, not a Snitchy, or whatever it was…"

"I like it." Harry informed her, wondering why she wasn't having it. He quite enjoyed the spider song and the Snitch song. What was wrong with them?

"Spiders are bad!" Ronnie shook his head and Hermione leaned forward to glare at him.

"It's a nice itsy spider!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yesssss!"

"Noooooo!"

"That's enough!" Remus stated loudly over the noise, causing everyone to look at him in slight shock. Harry's eyes watered making Remus feel bad. "Oh… no, Harry, it's alright. I'm sorry. Ronnie, Hermione, you guys really shouldn't fight. It's just a song, it can be sung the wizard way and the Muggle way."

"I apologise, Mr. Lupin."

"Sowwy."

"You're loud, Moony." Harry whispered and hugged his lion closer.

"Yeah, sorry about that buddy."

"Sometimes it's hard not to be loud when other people are being loud." Sirius explained gently, reaching back to stroke Harry's hair. "It doesn't mean we're mad. It just means we're trying to be heard over all of the noise, ok?"

"Ok." Harry nodded, rubbing his nose on his sleeve and feeling better now. His Moony hadn't yelled in anger. He had yelled to be heard, and even he knew that was different. He settled back in his seat as Sirius began singing the Muggle version of the song, making him quite sleepy after all. He looked over at Hermione and saw she had slumped in her seat, her eyes closed, breathing softly. Ronnie seemed to be struggling between the two worlds of awake and sleep and succumbing to the latter. Harry yawned, hugged his lion closer, and pondered for a moment. Maybe a nap wasn't such a bad idea after all…

* * *

Yes, yes, I know, I skipped the sleepover morning. Heh, I really couldn't think of much to put for that, so I skipped. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please let me know what you thought! I particularly love Hermione in this one if you couldn't tell.

Later loves,

S.Q.O.


	13. Hotel

Disclaimer: Really. If we've gotten this far and you haven't figured it out yet... JK Rowling's characters.

* * *

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Thirteen: Hotel**_

"Well, here we are guys." Sirius stretched his arms upwards as he climbed out of the car. The last couple hours of the drive hadn't been bad at all, the joys of nap time had affected him as well. He'd been able to get in some sleep along with the three kids in the backseat. He turned to find that while Harry was awake now, Ronnie and Hermione were still conked out. He suspected this was due to two things. Firstly, he and Remus had discovered that the Weasley kids could sleep for long periods of time quite happily. And secondly, Hermione's mother had said Hermione had been up late out of pure excitement for their trip. "Shhh… Harry, let's be very quiet so we don't wake them alright?"

Harry nodded, placing a finger to his lips as Sirius undid his buckles. He then undid Hermione's and lifted her up out of the car, holding her so that her head lolled onto his shoulder. Remus did the same with Ronnie and Harry climbed down out of the car, toting all three stuffed animals.

"Now, Harry…" Remus began, coming around the other side of the car. "The parking lot is very busy and cars aren't going to be able to see you until you get a bit taller, so you need to stick close to Padfoot and me, understood?"

"Mhm." Harry nodded, not wanting to get run over by a car anyway. He knew the rules from when he used to play out of doors on Privet Drive. He didn't think he could run very well with his arms full of plushies and his legs still a bit wobbly from nap time and sitting in the car for so very long.

"Good, now then, let's get inside." They traipsed across the parking lot to the hotel entrance. They could come back down for the luggage once they got checked in and settled the two sleepers down into a bed.

The lobby of the hotel was nice and cool after the heat of the outside. Harry kept close to his Padfoot and his Moony, not wanting to get lost here. It was quite a big building and he was sure he'd never find his way out if he did get lost.

"Good afternoon!" The woman behind the desk beamed brightly at them as they came in. They went up the desk.

"Hello." Sirius grinned at the woman, shooting her his most winning and handsome smile that he reserved especially for the ladies. And she was quite a pretty lady at that. "We have a reservation under the name 'Black.'"

"Alright, let's see then…" The woman flipped through a book on her desk for a moment. "Ah yes, here we are. S. Black, three nights, a suite with two singles and one double?"

"Yes, ma'am. That would be us."

"Wonderful! Here are your key cards… You're up on the third floor, number 34C. And might I say, what lovely children you have."

"We like to think so." Sirius beamed, placing a proud hand on top of Harry's hat clad hat. "This one is mine, the other two are his best buddies. Their parents needed some alone time, so we decided a trip to the beach would be a nice little holiday for them."

"Oh! How kind of you! They're all just so precious. If they get bored with the beach though, there's a zoo not that far from here as well. My son just loves going there."

"Oooh! Paddy! Can we go to da zoo too?" Harry asked, his eyes wide with wonder at the very idea of it. He knew what zoos were, Dudley got to go to them sometimes and he always came home boasting about how he'd seen so many animals Harry would never get to see.

"Of course, Prongslet. That sounds like a wonderful idea." Sirius beamed down at him, confused as to why he was suddenly being referred to as 'Paddy' instead of 'Padfoot'.

"Yes, it sound brilliant. Thank you very much. We'll be sure to check that out as well then." Remus grinned at the woman, shifting Ronnie to his other side to give his arm a bit of the break. The kid slept like a rock. They took their keys and headed down the hallway to the elevator.

"Alright Harry, can you push the up arrow?"

"Yeah!" Harry laughed and slammed his little palm against the up button. The elevator took a moment to come down and when it did, it dinged open, letting a family with a couple of haughty teenagers out. Harry climbed in closely followed by the other. "Which one now?"

"The number three. You know which one is three right?" Moony asked brightly, knowing Harry did.

"Mhm!" Harry nodded proudly and pushed the number three, having to stand up on his tiptoes in order to do so. The button lit up and the doors dinged shut. The ride to the third floor was smooth and uneventful, the doors not opening up on either the first or second floors. When they got to the third floor, they got off and started down the long corridor.

"Can you find number thirty-four, Harry?" Sirius asked, having caught on to this opportunity for teaching without Harry even knowing it. "A three with a four."

"Ok." Harry nodded, looking at the doors, pointing at them. "Three-zero… three-two…. three-four!"

"Thirty. When three is before another number, it's a thirty. Thirty, thirty two, thirty four." Remus explained pointing to the numbers each and Harry nodded again, pointing to door next to their's.

"Thirty six?"

"Yes! Very good Harry." Remus slipped the keycard into the door, the light blinked green and he pressed it open. Harry bolted inside excitedly.

"Wow! Lookit Paddy! Lookit Moony!" Harry laughed, running about the room excitedly. Sirius blinked, there it was again. That 'Paddy'. There was a little kitchen area by one wall across from the bathroom, a small sitting area and then the room was split by a small wall that went halfway across it and had long poles to the ceiling from about waist height. Harry thought they looked kind of like neat staircase railing poles. Beyond the wall were three beds. Two single ones sat against one wall, head to head and a big double bed jutted out towards them from the opposite wall.

"We probably won't be using this much at all." Remus motioned towards the little kitchen section. "It'll be more of a holiday if we eat out, but the fridge will be good for our picnic things." He carried Ronnie into the bedroom portion of the room and placed him down on the big bed. He and Sirius had already decided it would be easiest for all three of the kids to share the one large bed. They were small, so they would fit just fine.

"No, but it's nice to have, just in case." Sirius nodded and set Hermione down next to Ronnie. Hermione rolled over, cuddling up to Ronnie quite contently, her thumb in her mouth again. Ronnie snuggled her back, flinging an arm over her like she was his bear, both of them dead to the world."Ok, now that… is cute." Sirius admitted with a smile.

"Way better than having them fighting all the time. Well, do you want to get the luggage or do you want to stay here with them?"

"I'll get the bags. Harry, want to come help me?" Sirius asked brightly, lightly whacking the brim of Harry's had to make it go downwards. Harry laughed and pushed his hat back up.

"Yeah!" He bolted for the door again and he and Sirius made their way out, heading back down in the elevator (Harry learned that the letter 'G' stood for ground floor) and to the lobby.

"Have you got a trolley?" Sirius asked the woman behind the desk and she smiled, pointing to the doors.

"Right over there, but I can call the bag boy if you'd like…"

"Oh, no, that won't be necessary, will it Harry? I've got mister muscles here!" Sirius lifted Harry up and the little boy laughed. He was strong, at least he liked to think so, just as all four year olds did. "Can you show the lady your muscles, Prongslet?"

Harry lifted his arms, flexing them proudly. The lady seemed nice, and Sirius seemed to like her. He was getting better at discovering that not all adults were going to be jerks like the Dursleys. In fact, so far, most of them had been really nice to him. "I'm strong!"

"Yes, you are! Wow, look at those big muscles!" The woman laughed.

Sirius laughed and set Harry on the trolley, wheeling it out of the automatic doors and into the parking lot. Harry stood on the trolley, holding onto one of the bars to keep himself steady. "Lookit the big truck, Paddy!" He laughed, pointing to a large tractor trailing driving along the main road.

"I see it. It's a very, very big truck." Sirius nodded and Harry grinned back at him. They got to the car and Sirius unlocked the boot, opening it and beginning to load the backpacks onto the trolley along with the cooler and beach things. The beach was just on the other side of the hotel where they could walk to it, so it would be more convenient to have them inside. "Hey Harry? Why are you calling me Paddy?"

"Because…" Harry grinned brightly, as though it was a silly question. "Cher my goddaddy, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"So cher not my Daddy, but cher like a daddy, so cher my Paddy!" Harry laughed at him, beaming so brightly now that Sirius couldn't help but laugh with him. Four year old logic was so simple and straight forward. The world was a magical place and if Harry didn't understand something, he made it understandable with his imagination.

"I suppose you're right." Sirius nodded, scooping Harry up and hugging him tightly. "And you're my boy, you know that, right? Forever and ever. You're not my son, but you're as good as."

"Right!" Harry nodded, glad Sirius had understood. "Not my Daddy, but as good as!" He wrapped his arms around Sirius's neck and kissed him sloppily on the cheek, burying his little face against his neck happily, Padfoot's hair tickling his face.

Once they'd loaded what they'd needed to on the trolley, Harry helped Sirius push it back inside. They waved at the lady behind the desk as they passed and then headed to the elevator. It took a couple seconds to figure out how to get the wheels of the trolley over the doorjamb of the elevator, but they managed it and before they knew it, they were back at the hotel room. Sirius opened the door and push the trolley in.

"Alright, let's get this unloaded so we can bring it back downstairs in case someone else needs it soon."

"Ok!" Harry gave the things on the trolley a push so they fell off of it and onto the floor. "All done!" Sirius laughed and turned.

"You stay here, I'll bring it down. You can help Moony put things away."

"But, I wanna go with chu, Paddy." Harry pouted for a second but then Moony gave him a tickle.

"I can't put everything away on my own, Harry. Padfoot doesn't need any more help, but I could really use some!"

"Alright." Harry nodded, waving bye to Padfoot and helping Moony tote the backpacks into the bedroom area. They put the clothes away in the dresser, everyone getting one of the six drawers and then the extra shoes (in case trainers (sneakers) were needed at some point instead of sandals) going in the bottom one. Hermione had two extra pairs of shoes, but then, Harry decided that was probably because she was a girl. And Ronnie didn't have any, just the trainers that sat by the door with Hermione's dress shoes. "Moony?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"How come Ronnie doesn't have sandals?" From what Harry understood, one needed sandals to go to the beach. If Ronnie didn't have them, would he be allowed on the beach? "Did he forget them?"

"No. I don't think he has sandals at home either, Harry. But that's ok, because he has lots of brothers and a sister instead. That happens sometimes."

"Can Ronnie go to the beach widdout sandals?"

"Sure he can." Remus patted Harry's head and Harry smiled, feeling a bit better, but he was still confused. Why would having lots of brothers and sisters make it so you couldn't have sandals?

"Ok, but…" Harry frowned again and held up his own sandal clad feet. "Moony, you made anudder car seat with magic, right?"

"Yes, I did. Would you like me to made sandals for Ronnie from yours?"

"Yes!" Harry nodded, glad that his Moony understood. He took his sandals off hurriedly and set them down on the floor. Remus pulled out his wand and tapped Harry's sandals. In an instant, another pair, identical to Harry's appeared beside his. He laughed brightly. Moony made the second pair a bit bigger and then pondered for a moment.

"What do you think, Harry, should we make them orange too?"

"Yeah!" Orange was Ronnie's favorite color. Harry knew he would like that. Remus tapped the sandals again and they changed from brown to orange. There. Now they were perfect. Moony then tapped Harry's, making them red. Harry squealed in delight. He hadn't been expecting that!

"Where's Sir Snuggleston de Fluffners?" Hermione was awake, rubbing at her eyes and looking around curiously for her otter.

"Here!" Harry laughed, pointing to where the worn out purple plushie was sitting on the bed right near her.

"Oh. Thank you." Hermione smiled and hugged her otter to her chest happily. She looked around, sliding down off of the bed, her socked feet padding across the carpet. "This is the hotel?"

"Yup!" Harry laughed, running a circle around her. "Chu missded it, 'mione. We rided an elebator and I got to rided a trolley!"

"Wow!" Hermione looked impressed. "Hehe, Ronnie's still asleep." She giggled, pointing to where the redhead was beginning to drool.

Harry grinned and climbed up onto the bed, prodding Ronnie in the cheek. "He's really really sleepy."

"But if he keeps sleeping, he's going to miss everything." Hermione frowned, crawling back up onto the bed as well and giving Ronnie her own prod to the face. Ronnie groaned and rolled over.

"Okay." Harry nodded and poked Ronnie harder before sitting on the other boy's back and bouncing. "Wake up, Ronnie! It's time to wake up!"

"Up up up, Ronnie!" Hermione laughed, lifting Ronnie's head and patting his cheeks. "If you don't wake up, you're going to miss all of the fun."

Ronnie flailed, groaning and opening his eyes at last. He blinked, rubbing at them and sitting up so that Harry slid off of him and Hermione let go of his face. "Twas sleepin…" He murmured but did not make to lay back down.

"Hey, nice to see you awake!" Remus beamed, sitting down on the bed. "So, it's a bit late to be going down to the beach, so we're going to wait for that until tomorrow."

"Awwwww…." Harry pouted slightly. He was really looking foreward to going to the beach.

"But we can go downstairs to the pool. So let's get your swim suits on."

"Yay!" Ronnie laughed, getting up and bouncing on the bed. "Pool! Pool! Pool!"

"Here's your suit Hermione." Remus tossed it to her. "Head on into the bathroom and get it on. If you need any help, just give me a call."

"Alright, Mr. Lupin." Hermione smiled and bounced off of the bed, trotting away to the bathroom.

"How come Hermione hassa change in the baffroom?" Harry asked curiously as he tugged off his shorts and shirt to put on his swimmy trunks. Remus held them out for him and he stepped into them with ease. Once they were on, Moony helped him put on his green water wingies.

"Because she's a girl."

"Oh. But… why is she a girl? She could be a boy, if she wanted to." Harry nodded to himself, as though this made all the sense in the world. If he were to put on a dress, he'd be a girl too.

"No she can't." Ronnie stated simply, shaking his head and stepping into his own very bright orange swimmy trunks and letting Remus tug them up for him and then held out his arms for his blue water wingies. Having a sister, he knew a thing or two about girls. "She dun have a weewee. Dat's why she's a girl. Ginny doesn't has one."

"What?" Harry's eyes grew wider and he glanced in the direction of the bathroom. "But… Moony…" He looked up at Remus, so full of confusion. "If 'mione has no weewee, how does she go potty?"

Remus winced, having wished this conversation could have waited a few years. "Well… she sits on the potty, of course. Girls have weewees too, but they look different from boys. That's all."

"Oooh." Harry nodded, feeling a bit satisfied with this answer. He turned his head to Ronnie. "What does it look like?"

"Well, it…"

"Annnnd we're all set to go down to the pool!" Remus cut him off.

"Yay!" Harry and Ronnie hopped up and down, running for the door. Hermione came out of the bathroom wearing her own green swimmy suit. Harry was slightly jealous because it had neat little fishes on it, though he wasn't jealous of the frill around her waist.

"Mr. Lupin, I believe I'll be needing my water wingsies as well." She stated, poking at Ronnie's.

"But of course." Remus grinned at her and slid a pair of pink ones up her arms with ease.

"Thank you."

"You are very welcome, now you lot wait here while I get my suit on." Remus smiled, heading into the bathroom.

The hotel room door opened and Sirius came in. He looked down at the trio of swimmers and grinned. "I take it we're going down to the pool tonight?"

"Yes!" Harry nodded brightly, hugging his godfather around the leg. "Hey, Paddy? How come girls has different weewees?"

"So they can make babies." Hermione answered with a laugh, shaking her head and looking amused that he didn't know. "I read all about it in a book my mummy got me."

"But… babies… come from… a bird…" Ronnie blinked, looking quite impossibly confused.

"That's…"

"And we're almost set!" Sirius shook his head, torn between horror and laughter. "Let me just get my suit on and we'll be on our way."

Remus came out of the bathroom wearing his suit and carrying three white hotel towels. "We'll save our beach towels for tomorrow. For now, we can use these at the pool. Here, everyone take one." He held out the stack as Sirius went into the bathroom with his suit and the three four year olds each took a towel.

"Don't forget our toys, Mr. Lupin." Hermione state after a moment of hugging her towel.

"Ah yes." Remus nodded and picked up the bag containing all of the swimmy toys. "Oh… here… You'll be wanting these too." He pulled out three deflated ring floaties and prodded each with his wand. They sprung up full of air.

"Yay!" Harry laughed, grabbing at his green one. He pulled it on over his trunks excitedly. Ronnie and Hermione did the same with their blue and pink ones.

"Ah! Now we're stylin'." Sirius laughed as he came out of the bathroom.

"You too, Paddy!" Harry laughed, holding up a large, red ring. Sirius pulled it on and then posed.

"How do I look?"

"Awesome!" Harry squealed in absolute delight at the sight of his godfather wearing a floatie as well.

"I'm not sure where this ring came from…" Sirius stated, eyeing Remus. "But I dare say I look smashing in it. Well then, troops, let's be on our way down to the pool."

"Oh yes please!" Hermione bounced from one foot to the other, quite ready to go for a swim. Remus held onto one room key while Sirius took the other. They all made sure they had shoes on and then left the room, going down the hallway and into the elevator.

"May I press the button?" Hermione asked politely when they reached it.

"No, me!" Ronnie bounced forward, his arm outstretched. Hermione yelped and pushed him back out of the way and they both ended up sprawled on the floor, glaring at one another.

"I want to do it, Ronnie!"

"I'm taller, I should!" Ronnie shot back at her, getting up and heading for the button again. Hermione grabbed him about the leg, pulling him down.

"Hey hey hey!' Sirius tugged them apart and held them at arm's length by the backs of their round floaties. "Hermione asked first, so she gets to push the outside button. Ronnie, you can press the inside button."

"Alright." Hermione nodded, beaming that she got to go first. Sirius set her down and she reached up on her tip toes to push the down arrow button while Ronnie spent the time waiting for the elevator pouting. When the doors dinged open, he was bouncing right in front of it, ready to get on. A second later, before Remus had a chance to pull him out of the way, an older woman had bumped hard into him, too intent on her conversation to watch where she was going.

"Ow!" Ronnie tumbled over, his knee hitting the metal doorjamb of the elevator.

"Well I never!" The older woman scoffed. She brushed her perfectly clean skirt of invisible dirt and glared at Sirius and Remus. "Really! You ought to teach this little hellion of yours some proper manners!"

"You knockded him over! You say sorry!" Harry stated angrily, stomping one small foot on the ground, his fists clenched. He scowled up at the woman, not the least bit pleased. Ronnie was rubbing at his bleeding knee and sniffling… he'd gotten hurt. Couldn't this mean lady see that? It wasn't Ronnie's fault… it was the lady's. Normally he would have been too afraid to dare speak to the lady this way, but the sight of his friend in pain really made him very mad. He couldn't help it. He was so full of four year old rage.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that, young man! I am related to the royal family."

"You is an old ugly hag!" Harry shot back at her, his little face bright red, chin jutted out. He pointed to Ronnie on the floor and stomped his foot again. "You hurtded him! You say sorry! Say it right now!"

"Harry!" Remus outburst, but he was busy checking to make sure Ronnie hadn't done any serious damage to his knee. Luckily, it looked as though a bit of magic and a kiss would do the trick, both of which he had on his person. He could heal Ronnie's knee once they were alone in the elevator.

"I never! You little demon! Do you not teach any of them manners? Parents these days… what you need is a good spanking, young man." The woman huffed, swinging her bulky purse about as she turned around. It wooshed, quite accidentally clonking Harry in the head. He yelped.

"Oi! Watch it!" Sirius stated angrily, reaching down and scooping up Harry who was rubbing at his head in shock. The woman spun back around.

"Maybe if you kept them on a leash, then we wouldn't be having this problem."

"They're children, not dogs." Sirius glared at her, snuggling Harry and giving him a quick kiss. "And he's right. You really should apologize because you weren't paying attention. It has nothing to do with their manners, yours could use some work though."

"I have impeccable manners, thank you very much."

"Excuse me, ma'am." Hermione stated quite sweetly, smiling up at the woman innocently.

"Ah, now see there… this one has manners. What a good girl you are."

"Of course." Hermione sweetened the deal with a perfect curtsy. "But, begging your pardon, you were not using your manners. If you were, you would have apologized to my friends for hurting them, even though it was an accident. It's no one's fault if it's an accident. You can either apologize, or walk away like a rude old cow."

"A… I…" The woman's jaw dropped as Hermione's smile disappeared and she glared up at her."You're all mad! I will be speaking to the manager about this incident, you just wait! He'll throw you and your rotten spawn out of here!"

"You hurt two four year olds. I suppose that'll make the manager really glad to hear." Sirius shot back. "Come along now then, loves." He pressed Hermione into the elevator while Remus scooped up Ronnie. The doors closed on them and Sirius sighed. "What an old b-" Remus caught his eye. "…lubbering baboon. Are you alright, Prongslet?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. His head hadn't hurt for very long, just for a minute. "Paddy, can she really kick outta da hotel?"

"Nah." Sirius chuckled, patting Harry on the back. "You were very brave back there, standing up for Ronnie. I'm very proud of you."

"Really?" Harry blinked, quite sure he would have been mad. He had called an adult a mean name after all.

"Yup. You were right to tell her to apologize. She really should have, though you shouldn't have called her an old hag. That wasn't very nice and I'll expect better of you in the future, understood?"

"Yes, Paddy." Harry nodded. He knew calling names was bad, but he hadn't been able to help it. The lady was being a big old meanie face and he had been really mad about it.

Ronnie pushed the button for the ground floor and the elevator wooshed downwards slowly, taking them all to the little hallway beyond the lobby.

"The pool is this way." Hermione grinned, pointing to the sign indicating that the pool was just down the hallway a bit. "And the gym, and the snack machines…" She hopped along the tiled hall, jumping each crack and waiting for Remus to put their doorkey into the pool door to unlock it. It was a good idea to have the lock there… it would keep younger children out of danger if they should wander off on their own and try to go swimming.

The pool room was humid and smelt strongly of chlorine. There was a diving board over the deep end and a small twisty slide towards the middle. It looked as though it went from being three feet deep, to five feet deep, and then on to a full twelve feet in the deepest end with buoys along the middle to separate the two varying sections of depth. A smaller round baby pool sat off to one side of the shallow end and a hot tub sat at the other, steaming and already containing a couple of older gentlemen.

"Oooh! Paddy! Paddy! A slide!" Harry exclaimed in absolute joy as they took off their shoes and placed them in a couple of cubbies along with their towels. Remus put the room keys in his shoes. "Can we go down it? Please?"

"Sure thing." Sirius laughed as Harry grabbed his hand and dragged him off towards the slide. He wasn't too worried about the kids going under with their water wings and floaties to keep them above the water, but he wasn't about to take his eyes off any of them for a second. After all, you never knew when a floatie might pop. He slid his own floatie off and set Harry down in front of the ladder to the slide. "Alright, Prongslet. You head up first and I'll be right behind you. We have to go down together, so wait for me."

"Ok." Harry beamed, scaling the ladder without any hesitation. He wasn't the least bit scared of heights. After all, if he wanted to be a professional Quidditch player when he was older, he wasn't allowed to be afraid of heights. And really, there was no reason to be afraid of much when he had his Padfoot with him. Once he reached the top, he stood there, waiting for Padfoot to join him a moment later.

"Well, here we go Harry." Sirius sat down and tugged Harry into his lap, holding onto him tightly. He didn't want him to under and not come back up. "Remember, hold your breath when we get to the bottom in case we go under the water, alright? But don't worry, it'll only be for a second."

"Ok!" Harry laughed, quite prepared for this. He wasn't much of a swimmer, but he did enjoy playing in the fishy pond at him. This would be fun too.

Sirius pushed off and down they went, the wind whipping at their black hair. It wasn't too long before they were hitting the water with a great splash. Harry caught his breath and closed his eyes just in time. He felt himself sink under the water, the sting of it up his nose… and then he was above the surface again, floating quite contently on top of it in his floats and Sirius's arms. "That was fun, wasn't it Harry?"

"Yeah! Can we do it again?"

"In a minute, it's Ronnie and Hermione's turns now." Sirius chuckled, patting Harry on the head and bringing him over to the shallow end so that he could stand better. "Look, here they come!"

Remus had Ronnie on his lap and they shot down the slide fast, splashing when they hit the water, just like Harry and Sirius had. Hermione was waiting anxiously at the bottom of the ladder.

"Whew! That was neat!" Ronnie laughed as Remus brought his over to the shallow end as well.

"You or me?" He asked Sirius, nodding to Hermione.

"Me!" Sirius laughed, getting up quickly. He headed over to the slide, and helped Hermione up the ladder.

Harry watched them go down it, noting that Hermione kept her eyes covered the entire time. When she joined them, she was looking a bit green. "I do not think I would like to go down the slide again very soon. It's way too tall."

"You dun like tall stuff?" Harry asked curiously and Hermione shook her head.

"I like high stuff." Ronnie grinned proudly, receiving a splash to the face. This resulted in a great splashing war that lasted a good fifteen minutes in the shallow end of the pool before Harry was begging for a turn on the slide again. Remus took both him and Ronnie at the same time, keeping one on each of his legs while Sirius and Hermione held what she referred to as a water ballet.

It was past dark before the gang finished up at the pool, the three little ones all yawns, everyone's fingers and toes pruney from being in the water so long.

"I think that's enough for today." Remus stated as he lifted Harry out of the pool and set him on the edge.

"Awww…"

"Well, we've got to get to dinner and then to bed guys. We want to be able to get down to the beach tomorrow, remember? If we don't sleep, we can't go."

"Alright." Hermione nodded, climbing out of the pool and heading for the cubby where the towels were. Once all of them were wrapped tightly in their towels, they trudged back upstairs to the room and changed into their pajamas. They feasted upon room service macaroni and cheese while watching a little bit of the telly before it was time to settle down completely. Hermione spoke to her mother and father on the phone for a couple of minutes, to reassure them that she was perfectly fine.

"Alright you lot, in you get." Sirius smiled, tugging the blankets on the big bed down. Hermione trundled up in her soft pink night gown trimmed with lace, a happy looking blue dinosaur on the front, otter gripped tightly in one hand. She yawned, flopping down on a pillow and hugging her otter close. Harry followed in his train jammies. He laid down beside Hermione and reached his arms up to take his lion from Sirius. Ronnie was last, jumping from the chair beside the bed with a laugh and landing with a thump on top of the other two in his Chudley Cannon night shirt. It was technically Bill's old shirt, but he'd given it to his brother when Fred and George had gotten hold of Ronnie's Cannon jammies. He rolled off of them onto Harry's other side and snatched his teddy bear off the bedside table. Sirius pulled the blankets up over the three of them, tucking it under their chins and smiling. "There now, don't you look all snug." He gave them each a kiss on the forhead and clicked off the light beside the bed, flipping open Harry's music box instead. He'd made absolute certain to pack it. "Good night you three, I love ya."

"Good night."

"Nighty night."

"I love you, Paddy." Harry grinned up at him, reaching his arms out. Sirius gave him a good hug and then kissed him again. Yeah, he was really liking this whole parent-hood type deal.

* * *

Yay! Another one! I rather enjoyed writing this one... It has a little bit of extra cute added to it. I hope you enjoyed it as well, and please let me know what you thought of it! I'd love to hear from you!

With lots of loves,

S.Q.O.


	14. Beach

Disclaimer: Yada yada yada JK Rowling yada yada what I usually put here.

* * *

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Fourteen: Beach**_

Sirius stared down at the large double bed of the hotel room, his hand over his mouth, trying with quite a bit of difficulty not to laugh for fear of waking anyone else. It was five in the morning and his bladder had yelled at him to release its contents before it did it for him, so he'd gotten up and done as it commanded. On his way back to his bed, however, he had paused to admire how adorable his godson was and this scene greeted his eyes.

Ronnie had somehow flipped over in his sleep, putting his feet up towards the head of the bed, his head lolling backwards off the end of it, mouth wide open in invitation to any flies that might be lurking about the room. Harry was just visible beneath the covers, a shock of unruly black locks sticking up, laying quite peacefully on his stomach. Hermione was also on her stomach, stretched out over Harry's back using her otter as a pillow. Instead of her thumb being in her mouth (Sirius thought this next bit was the piece de resistance) she was sucking quite contently at Ronnie's left big toe, which upon closer inspection, was about the same size of one of her thumbs.

Tredding carefully across the carpet to where Remus was sleeping peacefully, he took out his wand and jabbed the werewolf in the side with his wand, whispering. "Silencio." He then prodded Remus quite harshly with his wand tip, causing the other man to jerk awake and his mouth to open in an apparent silent scream of surprise. He gave Sirius an inquiring look once his mind started comprehending what was going gon.

"You have to see this." Sirius whispered, gesturing towards the bed. Remus sat up and stared over at the kids. He bent over double, obviously giving into a fit of silent laughter, glad Sirius had put the silencing charm on him before he'd woken him up. He retrieved his own wand from the top of the dresser and jabbed himself with it, returning his voice.

"That cannot be the least bit hygienic." He whispered, moving to the big bed and reaching over to extract Ronnie's toe from Hermione's mouth.

"Wait! I promised the Grangers I'd take photos…" Sirius stated quickly, dashing into the sitting area and digging into what he referred to as his 'day bag'. He'd taken to carrying a bag around ever since he'd gotten Harry, knowing that sometimes they would be around Muggles and he wouldn't be able to just magic the boy clean in public and therefore, a change of clothes was always nice. He dug out the Muggle camera he'd gotten not too long ago, wishing to document more of Harry, and brought it back into the bedroom area. He quickly snapped a few photos of the three kids sleeping.

"Happy?" Remus asked. After Sirius nodded, the former removed Ronnie's toe from Hermione's mouth. The girl rolled over onto Harry's head and then back again, apparently not liking the bumpyness, finding her mouth with her thumb now, and settling back down. "You'd better now show Hermione those when they're teenagers, Padfoot. She'd probably be disgusted."

"It's going right on the mantle as soon as it's developed." Sirius grinned and set the camera down on the bedside table. He moved into the sitting room and then to the little kitchen area. "Coffee?"

"Yes please. Though, I dare say I still prefer tea." Remus joined him in the sitting room and they both had a cup to help wake themselves up and prepare for the day. While the kids were still sleeping, the two men get everything ready for the beach. Remus packed the bags with all the sand toys, the floaties, and put their picnic lunch in the cooler. Sirius laid the kids' clothes out on one of the single beds so that they could get dressed without too much hassle. He'd already decided to put both little boys in white t-shirts over their swimmy trunks. Hermione would wear a similar white dress over her suit. They would each have to wear a white cloth hat with a brim all the way round to help keep the sun off their faces in case the sunscreen wore off too soon.

"Are we going to go to the zoo today as well, Moony?" Sirius asked after he had finished laying out the kid's clothes. "It'd be a pity for you to miss it. You'll be much too tired to do anything tomorrow after…"

Remus nodded with a sigh. He was not looking forward to tonight's upcoming full moon at all. He would have to deal with it though, because it was his life. His time of the month, as James used to call it, the three nights he had to endure and then the exhaustion for a few days afterwards. He turned his head to look over at the three sleeping pre-schoolers. "Yes. I really don't want to miss out on Harry seeing a real lion for the first time. At least, I don't want to be too tired to enjoy it."

"It's settled then. We'll go after nap time. I was checking one of those brochures when I brought the trolley down yesterday… the zoo is open until eight and the kids usually wake up around three, so that'll be more than enough time to go there. Even if they take a late nap and wake up at four, we'll be fine. And then I was thinking we could eat out someplace nice while it's still light out. It won't get dark until nine. You can apparate home around eight and get in the shed by then."

"That sounds good. Maybe if my stomach is full, I won't be so vicious." Remus tried to laugh but failed, his own joke not making the idea of being a werewolf any easier. It was true that when he ate a lot, it satiated his hunger a bit when he transformed, but it was still rough. It had been easier when he'd had three friends to help him through it, but he and Sirius had already decided, that at least for the first full moon, Sirius would stay with Harry. In the future though, they might be able to find sitters who would take him over night, for at least the first night, which was always the worst. And that Remus wasn't so sure about. What if he were to really hurt Sirius in a fit of rage and then where would Harry be?

"It'll be fine, mate." Sirius stated, patting Remus on the back. He knew the other man was not the least bit keen on having to leave tonight or the next night, but it was the way things had to be. "We'll have a blast today, and then tomorrow, you can rest all you want. I'll take the kids down to the pool or out somewhere so you can get plenty of sleep. And I'll drive us home the day after. It's no big deal."

"Thanks, Paddy."

"Ah, so you've noticed then?"

"Yeah. Any clue as to why?" Remus glanced over at the large bed where the three youngsters were still out cold.

"He said I'm not his dad, but I'm as good as." Sirius stated with absolute pride. "Far be it for me to correct him. Half the time I don't even know what the bloody hell I'm doing."

"But you do it well." Remus laughed, now clapping Sirius on the back and tilting his head back. "You're better with him than you realize. He's happy isn't he? And the Healer even said he was just under average weight at his last check up. And he doesn't really cause much trouble… he's a good kid. Reminds me a lot of Lily. The fire in his eyes yesterday when he told that woman off…"

"Just like Lily's whenever she gave us hell for picking on Snivellus." Sirius laughed. "But let's hope he's still got a bit of his dad in him besides his looks. In any case, he'll be a Gryffindor yet. Honestly, I'm banking on Gryffindor for all three of them. I bet they'll make it."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. The Weasleys are notorious for being in Gryffindor. And Hermione has some serious spunk."

"I was aiming for Ravenclaw with Hermione actually…"

"Possibly." Sirius agreed and rose from the couch, stretching and picking up his coffee cup. He placed it in the sink and moved across the room to the one large window currently covered in drapes. By now it was six thirty and the sun was bound to be up and shining brightly. He threw back the drapes, filling the entire room with bright light and making the tiny occupants on the big bed stir. "Alright you lot, time to be getting up. We've got a big fun day ahead of us!"

"Mmmm Paddy,… I is still sleepin'." Harry groaned, sitting up and pushing Hermione off of his legs as he did so. There was a sleep like across his right cheek and he rubbed at his eyes sleepily as he looked up at his godfather.

"So… you don't want to go to the beach then?"

"Beaaaach!" Harry laughed, his eyes shooting wide open now and he climbed out from under the covers. He hopped over his two friends and slid from the bed to the floor, dancing about in his jammies. "Beaaaach! Ronnie! 'Mione! Wake up! We're goin' to da beeeeeach!"

"Oh goody!" Hermione laughed, sitting up, her hair an impossible mess of bushy curls, sticking up as badly as Harry's always did only worse because there was more of it. Ronnie groaned, rolled over, and then stretched his entire body long before he sat up with a yawn.

"We goin' swimming'?" He asked as he rubbed at one eye and grinned up at them all.

"Yes." Remus smiled, peering through the bars of the half wall. "C'mon then. Everybody up and dressed. We've got to get breakfast before we do anything else. Your clothes are all over there."

"What about my baffy?" Harry asked curiously as he began stripping off his pajamas.

"You spent three hours in the pool yesterday. I think you're clean enough for today. Besides, we're all just going to get dirty anyway." Sirius laughed as he handed Hermione her clothes and sent her into the bathroom to get dressed for the day. "We're going to get absolutely filthy."

"YAAAAY!" Harry and Ronnie laughed, jumping up and down on the big bed at the idea of being allowed to get as dirty as dirty could be. They all got dressed quickly, wanting to get to the beach as soon as was possible.

Once everyone had been slathered from head to tiny toes with sunscreen and everyone had a hat on his or her head, Sirius swung Harry up onto his shoulders, causing the little boy to laugh with delight, and they headed out.

The group of five took a quick trip down in the elevator (there were no mean old cows this time) and into the lobby where they made a right into the dining area where breakfast was served every morning from six to ten.

"Alright guys, what do you want to eat? It looks like they've got cereal or bagels or waffles or…"

"Waffles!" Ronnie exclaimed quite excitedly, bouncing up and down to get a better look at the counter that spanned the wall on one side of the room.

"Waffles it is then for you, Ronnie." Remus laughed, spraying down the waffle maker and adding the batter to it before closing it to cook.

"I would quite like a bagel with butter and jam, please, Mr. Black." Hermione stated simply as she climbed into the chair of a nearby table. She took a napkin from the dispenser and spread it gently in her lap before folding her hands on the table to wait like a good girl.

"My cereals?" Harry asked, jumping up and down to get a better look at the cereal dispenser. He clapped his hand upon spotting the colorful round circled cereal he had come to liking. Sirius laughed, popping some bread into the toaster for Hermione along with a bagel for himself. He then grabbed a bowl and held it beneath the dispenser to get Harry some cereal. He added milk and a spoon and then set it on the table next to Hermione. Harry climbed into the chair and dug in happily.

The waffle maker dinged and Remus flipped Ronnie's waffle onto a plate. He cut it into bite size pieces and then covered it in butter and syrup before placing it down on the table where the little red head had sat. Ronnie grabbed up his fork, stabbed a piece of waffle and shoved it into his mouth with relish.

"Here's your toast, Hermione. I hope you like strawberry."

"Yes, thank you." Hermione beamed brightly and lifted a slice of toast gingerly to her mouth. She took a dainty bite and chewed thoughtfully before swallowing and taking another. "May I have some juice please?"

"Me too me too!" Ronnie bounced. "Juice please!"

Remus laughed and filled two small cups full of apple juice and set it down for them before he got his own waffle out of the maker.

Once everyone had had their fill to eat (Ronnie had gotten another waffle and another cup of juice, and was promptly cut off when he asked for thirds.), the two men and three children cleared up their table and made their way back into the lobby.

"Headed for the beach?" The kind woman from the night before leaned forward on her large desk to look down at the preschoolers with a bright smile.

"I'm gonna build a sandy castle." Ronnie exclaimed proudly, pointing to his chest with his thumb and standing up tall on his tip toes. He was full of pride at the very idea.

"Oh, I bet you'll build the best sand castle ever seen." The woman laughed. "Did you put on sun screen?"

"Mmmhmmm!" Harry nodded and rubbed his face, arms, and legs. "We put it alllll over!"

"Good! You don't want to get burned. You'd turn all red and it would hurt. The beach is right down the…"

"Excuse me." A voice stated from behind them. It was the woman from the night before and she was followed closely by a man who was just as large and just as sour faced as she was. "If you are done chitter chattering, I would like a file a formal complaint."

"I'll be with you in one moment, ma'am. I'm just finishing up helping another guest and it will only take another…"

"My wife wishes to file a formal complaint. This matter is more important than doting on a pair of gay men and their demon spawn."

"Excuse me?" Sirius turned around sharply. "That had better not be my kids you're talking about."

"Come on guys." Remus gestured for the four year olds to move down the hallway towards the back door of the hotel, the one that would lead out onto the beach. They did as he said, looking back at Sirius curiously as they did so.

"Please sir, the use of derogatory terms is quite…"

"They are demon spawn. Probably came from teenage pregnancy, or surrogate mothers…"

"They are nothing of the sort!" Sirius growled. "First off, we're not gay. Secondly, that's my godson and his friends, not that I should have to explain it to you, you old bastard."

"What did you call me?" The portly man stepped forward.

"You heard me!" Sirius squared his shoulders.

The man's wife moved forward to the desk. "We have never been spoken to in such a ghastly manner! Just last night that man and those… children… were impossibly rude to me outside of the elevator. The little ginger knocked me down and tried to bite me. And then the black haired one, he yelled curse words and then the little girl, she was the worst, she…"

"That's not the least bit true and you know it." Sirius spun around. "You barreled Ronnie over when you got off of the elevator and Harry and Hermione told you to apologise. I admit, that Harry could have used his manners a bit better, but he's only four and he was angry. He didn't curse either. Curse words to Harry are things like 'meanieface' or 'froggyguts'. He doesn't know anything more offensive. And then you smacked him in the head with your bag."

"I did no such thing."

"Yes, you did. I have three four year olds and a grown man willing to testify to it. And I'm sure the hotel has a camera by the elevators on each floor, right?"

"Yes." The woman behind the desk nodded. "Ma'am, we have video and audio surveillance on all of the floors in the hallways and the stairwells, for the protection of ourselves and our guests. I can have someone look up the video of last night if you would like to make a claim of being mistreated, though I don't see how a few four year olds could have done such a thing."

"I… that…" The woman faltered. "Well, I don't think that would be quite necessary. But I can assure you that it happened just the way I said it did. I can show you the bite marks from…"

"Ronnie didn't bite you. He was too busy crying over his skinned knee."

"I'm going to have to give the four year olds a pardon for whatever behavior might have offended you ma'am. I highly doubt they did what you say they did. They're practically still babies."

"Well, I never! I have raised five wonderful children and they were all perfectly manners by the time they were four! What do you know about children? You're probably still in secondary school!"

"Actually, the love of my life is seven years old." The woman lifted up a framed photo from her desk and turned it around for them all to see. A little boy with a cheeky grin beamed up at them, covered from head to toe in mud and looking as though he was using that grin to get out of trouble.

"Oh my… what a little hellion! My children were never allowed to get dirty at all! You are a terrible parent! He should be removed from your home and placed somewhere where he can be taught proper manners and respect!"

"Get out."The kind woman's face suddenly went dark with rage.

"What?"

"You heard me. Gather your things and get out. I'm officially banning you from this hotel."

"Well, I never! What authority do you have to…"

"I'm the owner's daughter. And you just insulted me and my son."

"You can't kick us out for something so ridiculous." The husband of the woman stated angrily, stomping his foot quite like little Harry had the night before. "We are paying guests and we deserve to be treated with respect. I will notify the police, you cannot throw us out without a justifiable cause."

"Your wife harmed a pair of four year olds and then went on to insult them, their care takers, myself, and my son. You're gone. Security will escort you in getting your things and see you out." The woman picked up the phone on er desk and dialed it while the old hag's face got redder and redder, like a bulgy tomatoe of grossness. "Hi, yes, I need you to see a pair of guests out…. They're being unreasonably rude and have some serious sticks stuck up their asses… alright.. thank you Henry…" She hung up the phone. "Henry and Gregory will be right up."

A moment later, a pair of rather large men came striding down the main hallway. "Let's go." One of them stated in a very deep voice, motioning for Mr. and Mrs. Rudeasshat to follow them. As soon as they were gone Sirius punched the air.

"Bababing! That was amazing." He leaned against the desk and offered the woman his hand. "Hiii… I'm Sirius." He waggled his eyebrows. The woman giggled and shook her head.

"I'm married."

"Damn." Sirius clenched his fist and snapped his finger. "Well, your husband is one lucky man. Thank you very much for that amusing scene. Now, I have a trio of four year olds who are waiting to bury me in the sand."

"Have fun! And do try to wash yourselves off a bit before you come back in… housekeeping will have enough to deal with after one of the groups we had using our conference room for a family reunion last night."

"That we will." Sirius laughed and waved at her, heading down the hallway for the back door.

Just out the back door of the hotel, a long winding path of stones led straight down to the sand of the beach. Sirius followed it until he spotted his best mate and three small figures clad in white. He waved and one of the figures took off, sand kicking up from behind his feet. Harry's hat flew off in the wind, catching around his neck by it's strings as he went straight for Sirius.

"Paddy! Paddy! Come see! We finds a crabby!" Sirius crouched slightly and flung out his arms, catching his boy up and swinging him up into the air with a laugh.

"A crab, you say?" Harry laughed, nodding as he spun through the air and then was tucked gently and securely to Sirius's chest.

"Mhm. A really big crabby! You hasta see, Paddy!" Harry wrapped his arms around Sirius's neck and leaned forward, pointing.

"Alright, alright… let's go see this crab." Sirius laughed again and strode across the sand to where Remus was holding a small plastic bucket out for Ronnie and Hermione to peer into. Sirius set Harry down and leaned over to get a better look at this really big crab Harry was on about. He snorted. The thing was nowhere near big, but he supposed, to a four year old it would be.

"He looks kinda like a bug." Ronnie contemplated, reaching for the bucket.

"Caaareful." Remus warned quickly lifting the bucket a bit further. "You don't want to get your fingers pinched by his claws. That would hurt a lot."

"He's not a bug. He's a crustacean." Hermione stated promptly, peeking over the edge of the bucket to get a better look at the crab. "I have a book all about sea creatures at home. I should have brought it."

"That's alright. You can just remember the types of creatures we've seen today and look them up when you get home."

"Sounds good." Hermione nodded agreeably and then sat down right where she was and drew one of the crabless buckets towards herself. She picked up a shovel and began filling the bucket with sand. "Let's make a castle."

"Yeah!" Ronnie grabbed the other bucket and began filling it as well.

"Woah… that sand is too dry to make a castle. It won't stick. We need to get it wet, but not too wet." Remus crouched down, setting the crab free and handing Harry the third bucket. "Why don't you and Padfoot go get us some water?"

"Ok!" Harry nodded, glad to have been given a job to do. He took Sirius's hand and just about dragged him down to the ocean. He gasped as they got close up, the water hitting his toes and then running away. He dropped his bucket and chased after it, his job forgotten. "Look Paddy! Look!" He laughed, catching up to the water and splashing his feet into it.

"Those are waves, Harry." Sirius smiled, catching up with him really fast. Harry didn't have his floaties on and Sirius did not want any accidents. He reached down and took Harry's hand, leading him a bit further into the water, though not past Harry's knees. He didn't want to go too deep.

Harry let out a squeal as a wave came and slammed into them, splashing and getting him wet all the way up to his chest. He laughed. "Paddy! The water is playing with us!" He ran in place out of excitement, his shirt soaked. Sirius laughed and reached down, tugging off Harry's shirt.

"Let's put this up on the beach so it can dry and then we'll come back in the water, alright? Maybe the others would like to come play with the waves."

"Ok!" Harry laughed and darted back up onto the sand, Sirius on his heels. They put Harry's shirt down on the cooler so it could dry and then asked if the others would like to come into the water as well. Ronnie and Hermione were intent on their sand castle, so Remus agreed to stay with them while Harry and Sirius went in the water. Sirius got Harry's water wings and ring on, not wanting him to get knocked over and not be able to get back up. The floaties would keep him up in the water as opposed to down.

"Oh! The waves like to play a lot, Paddy! They're silly." Harry danced about as the waves slammed into him again. This time he was ready for it and spread his arms out as though he were trying to catch the waves. After a couple of more waves, Sirius realized that this was exactly what Harry was trying to do. He would jump and fling his arms out before bringing them into his chest and dancing about.

"Come back wavey! Come back!" Harry laughed, jumping up and down in excitement. Sirius laughed and pointed down.

"Watch for it to come Harry and then let's jump over it."

"Ok!" Harry nodded, his eyes glued to the next wave that was coming. He had never had this much fun when he had lived with the Dursleys. He was so happy to be here at the beach with his Padfoot. He bent his knees, ready… and when the wave came, he and Padfoot jumped. Sirius tugged Harry a little higher into the air by his arm, lifting him over the wave and letting him land easily in the splashing water. As the water receded, Harry gasped, looking down. The sand around his feet was moving and disappearing too! "Paddy! Look!"

"I see, Harry." Sirius laughed, pointing down to where the sand was moving around his feet as well. "The waves did it. It's really neat, isn't it?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, rather enjoying the way the sand moved from under his feet when the wave went back into the big ocean. Something white caught his eye and he jumped up and down, pointing. "Look, Paddy! A sailboat, like mine! I has a sailboat too!" He laughed, quite delighted.

"So it is. That's a nice big sailboat that people ride on. Maybe sometime we can ride on a big boat."

"Yeah! Like the train!" Harry agreed whole heartedly. He bounced a bit on his toes, getting hit by yet another wave… and then by a hat. He blinked slightly, grabbing for the hat as it flew by them, caught by the air. "Paddy! A hat! A hat!" Harry chased after it, not wanting the hat to get lost. He thought maybe whomever had lost it would be very sad if it blew away. "Catch it, Paddy!"

"I'm trying!" Sirius chased after the hat as well, trying to keep a hold on Harry's hand as he did so. His other hand stretched, and finally, closed around the brim of the hat. It fluttered for a moment and then settled down.

"Oh, thank you!" A woman with milk chocolate hair came running towards them, waving her arms above her head. She skidded to a stop in front of Sirius. "Th-…" She paused, tilting her head and blinking slightly. "Sirius? Sirius Black?"

Sirius's brow knitted in confusion for a moment before his eyes grew absolute wide with wonder. "Alexandria Owan?"

"Yes!" The woman laughed. "I'd heard you'd gotten out! I'm so glad you didn't really betray Lily and James, I knew it had to be a mistake as soon as I heard. There's also been a rumor that… oh! Is this Harry? This has to be Harry." The woman suddenly crouched down to get a better look at the four year old who immediately stepped behind Sirius's leg and clung to it.

"Yes, this is Harry. Harry, come out and say hi to Alex. She was one of your mummy's best friends." Harry peeked out from behind Sirius's leg and gave the woman a small shy smile.

"That's right, Harry." Alex smiled, offering a hand to the little boy. "And I knew you too, when you were a tinchy tiny ittle baby. But you're a lot bigger now."

"I'm really big." Harry nodded, lifting his arms to show her how big he was. "Super-duperdy big, big , big!" The adults laughed and Sirius lifted Harry up into his arms. Alex righted herself. "Does you know stowies about my mummy and daddy?"

"Yes, I knows lots and lots of stories. Most of them are about your mum though."

"Paddy knows more stowies about my daddy than my mummy." Harry pondered this for a moment before all shyness dissolved. He flung himself forward out of Sirius's arms towards Alex, and she caught him quickly, with the keen skill of a Chaser, though quite a bit surprised. Sirius was surprised as well, though happy that Harry seemed to have warmed up to Alex quite quickly. Perhaps it had been the mention of Lily that had done it. Harry locked his arms around her neck. "Tell me stowies about Mummy?" Or maybe it was definitely the mention of Lily that had made this normally nervous little boy automatically trust this new stranger… except she wasn't a stranger really. He had known her when he was a baby and there was a weird familiarity about her just as there had been when he had first been reunited with Sirius. And again, she smelt like a smell he had forgotten to sniff until just now. His nose told him that this was someone he could trust, someone he had once trusted long ago.

"Sure. I bet you haven't heard the one about the time your Mummy fell into a vat of spaghetti sauce…"

"Ooooh!" Harry's eyes widened and he bounced excitedly as Alex began to tell the wild tale of a late night trip to the kitchens and an angry old house elf named Catrin. Sirius led the way back up the beach to where Ronnie and Hermione and Remus had gotten a good start at constructing what looked to be a promising sand castle.

Sirius flopped down in the sand beside Remus. "Look who we found, Moony."

"Lexie Owan, what a pleasure." Remus laughed, offering her a very sandy hand. She took it and sat down, Harry in her lap.

"Remus Lupin, how long has it been?"

"At least three years. I don't think I've seen you since the funeral."

"Me neither, I…"

"What happened next!" Harry asked abruptly, looking quite annoyed that his precious mummy story had been interrupted by these adult formalities.

"Well, then I had to magic a ladle so it was really big and get some of the house elves to help me scoop…"

"So how's the castle coming?" Sirius asked.

"We're building the main watch tower now, and then I'm going to build the courtyard and Ronnie is going to work on the moat." Hermione explained as she patted down the top of what looked to be a tower made out of several buckets of sand stacked on top of one another. Sirius was sure there was some magic involved in holding it together. He was fairly certain a pair of four year olds would not be able to have done that on their own, hell, most adults couldn't.

"And the spaghetti tasted like socks?" Harry exclaimed, his eyes wide, head tilted back as he looked up at Lexie.

"Dirty, rotten, gross super stinky socks. For a whole week!"

"Ewwww!" Harry laughed, sticking his tongue out and making a face at the very idea of yucky sock spaghetti. Lexie tickled his tummy and he laughed harder, squirming out of her lap and onto the sand. His eyes fell on Ronnie who was now digging the beginnings of the moat and he grabbed up his shovel as well, wanting to help.

"I had forgotten about that." Sirius grinned, his eyes glazing over. "The week of sock spaghetti. So that was you guys? James and I got detention for a week for that! And McGongall didn't even have any proof that we'd done it except the word of a house elf!"

"Yup… that was Lily's doing. She told the house elves not to mention it, and if anyone asked, it was the Marauders' doing. I think she was still pissed at James for something or other. But then, when wasn't she?" Lexie nodded. "It's a good thing old McGonagall didn't know who really did it. I've thought about telling her, now that we're out of school, but I feel like she'd find some way to punish me for it anyways."

"Oh she would. She'd probably lock you in a room without a wand and make you write lines until you lost the use of your hand." Sirius laughed and then winced, rubbing at his right hand in an obviously painful memory. McGonagall wasn't that cruel, but he'd been a serious trouble maker in his day. "So, what are you doing here, Lexie?"

"Just visting my cousin for the week, though she's a bit busy with work during the day. We have plenty of time to visit during the evenings and weekend, it's really nice. I'm pretty much on my own until six."

"Would you like to join us for lunch? Since you're not doing anything. We're going to the zoo later as well." Remus asked, looking up from where he was patting some sand into a bucket at Hermione's request.

"Oh! I'd love to, that sounds like fun. So I'll just hang out with you guys until six then."

"Sounds great." Sirius smiled and reached out, brushing some sand off of Harry's cheek. "Careful, guys. You don't want to get any sand in your eyes, that'll hurt." Harry giggled and dropped his shovel. He grabbed hold of Sirius's arm, hugging it tightly and then climbing into his lap to cuddle up to him. He sure did love his Padfoot.

"Lexie's going to spend the day with us. Won't that be fun, Prongslet?"

"Yay!" Harry laughed and fell forward to hug onto Lexie. He loved his Padfoot and his Moony, but having some grown up female company made him feel good too. Sirius figured it would be good for Harry to have a woman around now and then. He had Tricia and Molly of course, but they were typically busy. Pondering it slightly, Sirius's face suddenly broke into a grin.

"Hey… Lexie, what would you say to a little baby sitting now and then? We could sure use someone say… once a month…." Lexie looked confused for a moment, but then her eyes widened and she nodded in understanding. Being close to Lily and on the Quidditch team in school, she had learned of Remus's monthly issue in their seventh year. Sirius figured if he asked her, they'd at least have a back up for when Tricia was unable to watch Harry. "I'd love to. But, isn't there a full moon tonight?"

"Yeah. But he'll have to go it alone. I'm watching the kids tonight." Sirius explained.

"I could do it. I wouldn't mind at all, and my cousin will probably be too tired from a long day at work to go out. I could easily grab a few things and then get over to wherever you're staying at around... eight? Then you'd have enough time to get somewhere."

"Really? You'd do that?" Remus perked up, his whole being alight with hope. Maybe he wouldn't have to endure this full moon alone after all!

"Sure! I'd love to. Besides, Harry is my best friend's son. I'm sure if nothing had happened to Lily and James, I would have done plenty of babysitting him already. And his friends seem like good kids too. This one looks like he'd be one of the Weasley's."

"Yes, he is. That's Ronnie, and Hermione Granger. She's Muggleborn."

"What d'you say Harry, would you like me to spend the night with you while Moony and Padfoot go do some grown up things?"

"Yeah!" Harry jumped up and down, hugging Lexie around the neck. "Lexie's gonna stay!"

"Then it's a deal." Lexie laughed and kissed Harry's cheek. Sirius grinned, plucking the little boy from the sand and snuggling him. He was glad Harry and the others would be with someone he knew he and Remus could trust tonight. Tricia and Molly were excellent, but they'd known Lexie for years. He was also happy that Harry liked her and wasn't shy around her.

"Who wants some lunch?"

"Me me me!" Harry laughed, wriggling in Sirius's arms. Sirius laughed, tickling him and placing him back on the sand beside the cooler. Lunch sounded just like what they all needed right now.

* * *

So sorry it took me so long to finish this one, the world is a very busy place lately. Anyways, I made it a bit longer than usual, and I'm hoping you like the new character I've added! Please let me know what you think! I'd love to hear from you.

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	15. Zoo

Disclai... you know the drill, loves.

* * *

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Fifteen: Zoo**_

"Amimals! Amimals!" Harry let out a squeal, waving about the lemon popsicle he had gotten at the little ice cream stand outside the zoo's front gate. He clung tightly to Sirius's hand, his eyes wide with excitement.

After lunch they had all packed up their things and headed back to the hotel. After Ronnie had whacked Hermione over the head with a shovel, Remus had decided it was time for the little ones to have their nap. Ronnie had done it purely out of grumpiness and had cried nearly all the way back into the hotel, his eyes drooping. By the time they'd reached the elevator, he was out cold.

"Animals!" Sirius laughed, scooping Harry up into his arms. With two other adults with him, he didn't have to worry so much about keeping an eye on three youngsters at once, making it more enjoyable for all of them. "What o you guys want to see first? We can go this way and see all the reptiles, or we can go this way and see the ooooh, Harry… this way has lions!"

"Lions!" Harry nearly dropped his popsicle, squirming. "That way, Paddy! Lions!" Sirius laughed, and righted Harry's popsicle, placing it more firmly in the little boy's hand.

"We'll go this way then."

"Yay lions!" Ronnie jumped up and down, gripping tightly to Lexie's hand. He had been wary of her at first, but after she'd transfigured all of his food orange during lunch, he'd been quite taken with her. Hermione was walking along quite the little lady, gripping Remus's hand and looking every which way with excitement. She'd been to zoos before, but never this one. And looking at animals never got old.

"LIONSSSS! Down, Paddy! Put me down, puh-eeeease!" Harry squirmed, his half eaten popsicle landing on the ground, forgotten at the sight of the great golden colored cats. Sirius set Harry down on his feet and let him run forward to the fence barrier that separated them from the lions' cage. Harry peered through the bars, his eyes wide with wonder as he watched the lions. Ronnie let go of Lexie's hand and dashed forward as well, getting next to Harry to see the lions as well. Hermione looked up at Remus and he nodded. She ran to where the boys were and pressed her face against the bars.

"Lions live on the savannah."She stated promptly, grinning as she looked at them. "The boys have manes and the girls don't. So that's a boy and that's a girl." She pointed and Harry and Ron nodded, listening.

"My lion is a boy." Harry smiled happily. He turned around and grabbed the lion hanging out of the baby bag Remus was toting along and hugged it. He held it up to the bars. "Rawr! Rawr! Lion is gonna eat chu, lion!" The lion hanging out in his habitat rose from where he was lounging in the sun, sat right up on his rock and roared loudly. Harry jumped back but squealed with delight. "Rawr! RAWR!"

"Rawr!" Lexie laughed, crouching down beside Harry and raising her hands at him as though they were paws. "Rawr!" Harry looked at her, laughing.

"Rawr! Rawr! Rawr! We're lions, Paddy! Rawr!"

"Rawr." Sirius laughed, scooping Harry back up as he continued to roar. "Lets go see some other animals now. There are tons and tons of them. We can always see the lions on our way back."

"Ok." Harry beamed brightly and waved his lion's paw at the real lions. "Rawr rawr! Bye bye, lions!"

They continued on through the zoo, Harry squirming to look every which way he could, eyes glued to all of the different animals he had only heard the names of, and some he hadn't. They saw tigers, and monkeys, and a giraffe that Hermione informed them all had a black tongue.

"Oh oh oh lookit, Paddy!" Harry would squeal at least once a minute, his eyes going round with everything he could see. This was a magnificent place, the zoo. He was absolutely loving looking at all the different animals and he couldn't believe how many there were or how gigantic they were.

Remus was enjoying himself immensely as well, toting Hermione along as she pleasantly pointed out facts and kept a nice hold on his hand, unlike Ronnie who kept trying to break free of Lexie and run from animal to animal. Lexie didn't seem to mind much though, she seemed pretty happy to be there as well.

"Oh look at that, Sirius." She grinned, pointing across the path. "That must be the Slytherin's home away from home."

Sirius turned around and broke down laughing. A reptile house, more specifically, a snake house. "Nice. And it's nice and far away from the lions."

"You two are ridiculous." Remus shook his head as they burst out laughing, the kids looking up at them in pure confusion. Harry shrugged and started laughing too, Ron and Hermione soon joined in, none of them knowing what they were laughing about. Seeing the three preschoolers laughing because they thought they should had Remus cocking a slight grin. He was starting to get tired though, his body telling him that soon, he would have to make his way home to transform.

"Alright guys, let's go see the snakes!" Sirius smiled and kept a hold of Harry's hand as they went through the doos of the house and into the cool, dim building.

"Ooooooh…. That's a Bermese Python." Hermione pointed, reading the sign of the very first snake. "And that's a Boa constrictor… and a rattlesnake… and…"

"Oh Harry, this is a big one, you've got to come see him…. Harry?" Sirius looked down, but Harry wasn't looking at him. The little boy's head had turned to look dead straight through the window of the snake habitat next to the one Sirius was peering in. It was a really big glass, making it very easy for the little boy to see the snake up close, but that wasn't what had Sirius's face suddenly turning pale.

The snake in the habitat Harry was peering in had come right on over to the glass and rose up on it's belly so that it was perfectly eye level, gazing at the little boy with what could only be described as pure curiosity. It stuck out it's tongue, and hissed a little.

"Harry, come away from that one, I don't think he's very ha-…."

Harry shook his head, his hands pressing up against the glass, his mouth opening. A strange hissing noise came from between the little boy's lips and Sirius blinked, watching as the snake seemed to hiss back and rocked slightly from side to side. Harry laughed, clapping his hands. He let out more hissing noises and the snake twirled it's long body around. Harry imitated it, both of them dancing in a circle before staring at each other and rocking from side to side, hissing and smiling. He turned his face away from the snake finally, and looked up at the shock faced Sirius.

"Paddy! I like dis one! He is a nice snakey." Harry turned back to the snake and hissed some more. The snake seemed to enjoy this, pressing it's face against the glass just as the little boy was.

"Sirius? Harry? Where did…?" Lexie peered around the corner that led deeper into the reptile house and stared, watching Harry dance with the snake. "Oh my…"

"He… he's…" Sirius tilted his head to one side.

"He's a Parslemouth." Lexie finished for him. "Wow. That's unique. It looks like he's having fun."

"Yeah… but… I've never heard of a single decent Parslemouth… they all turn out dark and…"

"Don't worry about it, Sirius." Lexie stated simple, placing a hand on his arm. "He's a little boy… and there's nothing dark about him. He is Lily and James's son after all, it's probably just sometime he was born with, it happens. So he has a special ability, it'd be the same if he were born with extra toes. He's still Harry, and he won't turn dark, you wouldn't let that happen."

"Yeah… You're right, thanks." Sirius smiled at her, glad to have this logical and decent explaination. Alright, so Harry was a Parslemouth. Hhe'd have to tell Remus and Dumbledore, it was very important to let them know.

Crouching down, Sirius took Harry by the hand to get his attention. "Hey Prongslet, what's the snake saying?"

"He likes to dance wid me cause he dun getta talk to people really. He says I is a good little hooman." Harry nodded proudly, pointing a thumb to his chest. "You talk a him, Paddy!"

"I can't, but you can, because you're special, Harry. You can speak Parsletongue. That means you can talk to snakes. It's because you's a wizard, but it's very special to be a wizard who can talk to snakes too." He whispered this, not wanting any Muggles to overhear, but everyone else seemed too intent to pay any attention to a man and little boy and woman. To any outsider, they would have looked just like a regular family.

"Cool!" Harry laughed, beaming brightly at this news. He liked being told he was special, as most four year olds did.

"Alright, well, I think we had better catch up to the others, they're probably wondering where we are."

"Awww… otay, Paddy." Harry nodded and turned to the snake. He hissed something at it and waved with a bit smile. The snake nodded, looking a bit sad but gave one last twirl. Harry twirled back and then Sirius took one of his hands while Lexie took the other and they continued on down the hallway.

"It's a tortoise!"

"No, itsa tuuuuuurtle, 'mione!" Ronnie's voice echoed up the hallway and Sirius winced. Well, they had made it this far without a fight, probably because they'd been able to keep the kids pretty much each with their own adult.

"No, that one is a tortoise! And that one is a turtle." Hermione explained, jabbing her finger towards the glass of two separate areas. Ronnie shook his head, stomping his foot.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Oi!" Remus called over them, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter! Look, here comes Harry, Padfoot, and Lexie! Let's go see what's next."

"Otay!" Ronnie laughed, completely happy to do so. He ran foreward, hugging Harry, happy to see his best mate had caught up to them at last. Five minutes was a long time to wait when you were four.

"Ronnie, I talkded a snakey!" Harry laughed.

"Cool!" Ronnie laughed, understand perfectly. He was from a pureblooded wizarding family after all, he knew some things about his world. "So you is a Par…Parsle…tongue?"

"Mhm!" Harry nodded.

They continued on, out of the reptile house and spent another good hour at the zoo, making sure to give the lions another visit before they left at around six.

"Paddy, I is hungry." Harry stated, hugging his tummy with a frown and looking up at Sirius as he walked a little slower than he had been. It had been quite a long day for him and the other two kids. They were young and had had a good nap, but a day in the sun and of walking was beginning to get to them. It would be nice to sit down for a while.

"I know, buddy." Sirius lifted Harry up with a smile. "We're going to get something to eat before we go back to the hotel, don't you worry. Let's see…"

"I'm going to head back to my cousin's for a bit." Lexie smiled. "I'll cleaned up and see you guys at eight."

"Alright." Remus smiled at her and she waved as she turned to go in the opposite direction down the side walk.

"Lexie?" Harry frowned, squirming about in Sirius's arms. She turned around to find the little boy frowning at his quite sadly. "You is leabing?"

"Yeah, but don't worry! I'll be back in a couple of hours, we're hanging out tonight, remember?"

"Oh yeah…" Harry perked up a bit but held his arms out to her. She took him from Sirius and gave him a good hug.

"And I'll tell you more stories about your mummy, alright? We'll have lots of fun, but I have to go see my cousin now and you have to go eat dinner."

"Otay!" Harry nodded, nuzzling his head up under her chin. He quite adored Lexie, even though he'd only been around her for half a day. There was just something about her that was safe and nice, like Padfoot and Moony, he knew she wouldn't hurt him.

"Bye bye Lexie!" Ronnie waved, giving her a cheeky grin and Hermione smiled, waving as well. Lexie gave Harry back to Sirius and gave the other two kids a quick kiss each before waving and heading off.

"Alright you lot, let's get something yummy to fill those growling tummies!"

...

After a nice dinner at a restaurant (Hermione showed both boys up by using her perfect manners), the group headed back to the hotel. It was about seven thirty and the little ones were beginning to yawn after the long, exciting day they had had.

"Oof." Sirius flopped down on one of the twin beds. "Remus, I am going to need some Anti-Sleep soon."

"No problem, I've got some in the bathroom cupboard at… well... where we're going later." Remus smiled. This was going to be a better full moon than he had had in a long time, and he was actually kind of looking forward to it. After all, if he had to change, being able to have his best mate with him when it happened… well... it would ease some of his pain a great deal.

"My tummy is fuuuuull." Hermione sat down on the floor by the coffee table where Remus was setting down the crayons and paper he had packed to keep the kids entertained when they were in the room but it wasn't time for sleeping.

"I bet it is!" Remus smiled, patting her hair back and noting that it was all tangled. "Um… Sirius… did you remember to brush Hermione's hair this morning?"

"Yeah, I tried, but it was such a crazy mess I didn't want to hurt her with all the yanking."

"Mummy does it special so it doesn't hurt as much." Hermione informed them politely while she chose out a pink crayon and began to draw. Harry and Ron had chosen red and orange, respectfully, and were sitting on their own little sides of the table with their own pieces of paper.

A knocking came upon the door and Sirius heaved himself up off of the bed as Remus opened it. "Look who's here guys!"

"Lexie!" Harry pushed himself up off of the floor and ran to hug her around the legs, happy to see her again.

"Hey!" Lexie smiled, placing a hand on top of his head to and ruffling his hair gently. "It's good to see you all again." She came into the room, a duffle bag slung over her shoulder. She set it on the floor by the door and lifted Harry up so she could walk easier. "My goodness, Harry, I guess you missed me too?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded and wrapped his arms around her neck happily, hugging her. He liked Lexie a bunch. She set him back down by his spot at the coffee table.

"I cannot thank you enough for coming, Lexie." Remus beamed brightly, hugging her, his smile wide. "It means so much to us."

"It's not a problem, really. We'll have a blast, won't we guys?"

"Yeah!" Ronnie laughed, holding up a crayon to agree with her. He resumed his coloring, tongue pinched between his teeth as though concentrating particularly hard.

"Right, so… if anything happens, just…"

"I'll send a Patronus, just like in the old days."

"And they've had their dinner, so that's all set. You don't need to worry about bathing them, unless you want to, and they can sleep wherever, considering we won't be back tonight… so, wherever you want to put them is fine. And…" Sirius turned to look down at the kids before lowering his voice. "Harry really likes you, but he is still kind of wary of people sometimes. His aunt and uncle didn't treat him very kindly, so try not to raise your voice if they get out of control. Ron and Hermione will fight, but it's easier to just let them work it out unless it gets physical. At bedtime, just turn out the lights and open the music box, they'll all be out like lights… oh, and make sure they've all got their toys. Harry's lion, Ron's bear, and Hermione's otter."

"We'll be fine, Sirius, I promise you. I'm sure if I forget anything at bedtime, I'll be reminded." Lexie smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You and Remus go and have the best time you can. Be safe, we'll be waiting for you when you get back."

"Thanks." Sirius smiled at her and then moved over to scooped Harry up from his coloring. "Alright, Prongslet. Moony and I are going to go now, but we'll be right back in the morning."

Harry's lip jutted out and her hugged Sirius tightly around the neck. "I don't want you to."

"Oh, Harry…. I have too. But you're going to have fun with Lexie, remember? And when I'll be back in the morning. It's only for tonight. You're going to play with Ronnie and Hermione and Lexie."

"Otay." Harry nodded, hugging Sirius tighter.

"You be a good boy, Harry." Remus stated, kissing the little boy's head and giving him a nuzzle before Sirius set him down. Harry waved, and then watched as they apparated with a loud crack. He whimpered slightly but Lexie scooped him up right quick and sat down with him on the couch.

"Hey there, Harry. What do you say to another story about your mummy?"

"Yeah!" Harry perked up, his smile coming back as he looked up at her excitedly. He enjoyed stories about his mummy. He knew plenty about his dad already, but not nearly enough about his mummy.

"Did you know your mummy was one of the best Potion makers in Hogwarts? And she could cast charms like you wouldn't believe! She was a wonderfully powerful witch and people couldn't believe she was Muggleborn. But she was horrid at transfiguration, that's when you turn something into something else. So your Daddy had to help her with her homework in our seventh year. So, that's where our story begins…"

Harry listened intently, his eyes wide with wonder as Lexie told him about the time his mummy had accidentally turned his daddy into a teacup instead of the turtle she was supposed to be working with.

"Hmmm…" Harry slid down off of the couch when Lexie finished the story and picked up his crayon again. He began drawing again, but this time, he had a great look of purpose. Lexie smiled and stood up.

"Well, I know Sirius said that I don't need to give you guys baths, but you sure look like you could use some washing up." She was quite right. Harry, Ronnie, and Hermione had been changed into other clothes before their naps, but they still looked kind of sandy, not to mention grubby and sticky from their popsicles and dinner. "Hermione, why don't we go get you cleaned up first?"

"Alright." Hermione nodded, willingly setting down her crayon and getting up. She could do with a wash.

Following Lexie into the Bathroom, Hermione shut the door and tugged off the dress she'd put on after being at the beach that morning. Lexie turned on the shower, thinking it would be easier to just get them all scrubbed down quickly instead of taking long baths.

"Oooo… it's like rain!" Hermione laughed as she was helped into the tub. Lexie got her clean, taking a little extra time to get the sand out of the little girl's mess of hair. She'd have to fix that before bedtime as well. Once finished, she wrapped the little girl in a towel and got her dried off before bringing her her nightgown.

Dressed for bed and clean, Hermione happily sat back down at her spot at the coffee table and resumed her coloring. "I got a shower." She bragged.

"Alright boys! You're next!"

Harry laughed looking at Ronnie and they made a mad dash for the bathroom, excited to see what a shower was like as well.

"Yay! Rain!" Harry laughed, dancing slightly.

"Careful, you don't want to slip." Lexie warned, smiling as the little boys delighted in having the water 'rain' on them.

Once both little boys were clean and dressed, Lexie sat down behind Hermione with a hair brush and gently began to get the horrid tangles out. Hermione sat perfectly once she realized what was going on, not squirming because Lexie was able to do it just like her mommy, without too much pain.

"There we go, sweetheart." Lexie smiled as she ran the brush through Hermione's hair with ease, the locks now silky and well behaved, not frizzing out due to still being wet. "Whaddaya say to a braid? It'll make brushing it easier in the morning."

"Oh! Yes please, Miss Lexie!" Hermione nodded delightedly and sat even stiller as Lexie French-braided her hair back into one long ponytail that hung down her back, out of her way. Hermione reached a hand back to feel it and she spuned around, hugging Lexie tightly. "Oh thank you!"

"Not a problem. It's getting on bedtime guys, so finish up your pictures."Lexie stated, looking up at the clock that said it was nearly nine. Remus would be transforming soon.

"I'm done." Ronnie held up his very orange picture. "It's da Chudley Cannons!

"Oh wow, Ronnie, that's fantastic!" Lexie smiled and took it from him. "We'll place it right here so Sirius and Remus can see it when they get back. She placed the picture on top of the back of the couch so it was angled into a standing up positing by the couch and wall.

"I'm finished as well." Hermione indicated her lovely picture. "I drew our crabby from earlier." She smiled, admiring her picture and offering it to Lexie who placed it next to Ronnie's.

"It's lovely, Hermione! Well done."

"I made my mummy and my daddy, only my daddy issa teacup." Harry beamed brightly, his picture hugged to his chest.

"Oh, very good Harry." Lexie admired it for a moment and then set it next to Hermione's. "I'm sure Padfoot and Moony will love to see all of these beautiful pictures.

"I drawed anudder one." Harry offered her a second piece of paper and Lexie took it, grinning down at the stick people.

"Ooooh, let's see… who are all these people."

"My famibly." Harry grinned, pointing to each one in turn. "See, dere's Mummy'n'Daddy'n'me'n'Paddy'n'Moony'n'you'n'Ronnie'n'Mione'n'Luna'n'Ginny'n'Neville'n'Miss Tricia'n'Mr. Xeno'n'Mrs. Weasley'n'Mr. Weasley."

"It's wonderful, Harry." Lexie beamed, hugging him and grabbing up a crayon. "would you like me to write who is who on it for you?"

"Yeah!" Harry clapped his hands together and pointed to each one in turn, watching as Lexie write under each one with nice pretty printing that he could sound out if he wanted to.

"Alright, that looks like it's everyone. Time for bed." Lexie put the picture on the back of the couch with the others and ushered the children into the bed area where all three of them promptly climbed up onto the big bed together. "Is this where you all sleep?" Lexie asked as she pulled down the covers.

"Yes." Hermione nodded, moving to the middle where her otter was waiting for her. She laid right on down there, Harry and Ron taking the spaces on either side of her and hugging their own plushies.

"We like to sleep agedder." Ronnie informed her brightly, cuddling close to Hermione as Lexie pulled the covers up over them all and tucked them in snugly.

"No bad dreams wid my Ronnie and my 'mione." Harry nodded confirmation, snuggling himself up against Hermione's other side. The little girl smiled, cuddling down against her pillows, quite happy to be so safely snuggled between her two best friends.

"Well, then that's the best way to sleep." Lexie smiled at how cute they all were, kissing their foreheads. "Would you like a story before you sleep?"

"Oh yes yes yes!" Hermione clapped her hands.

"Great! I've got a book right here…" Lexie went to her bag and pulled out an old looking book. She came and sat on the edge of the big bed. "there aren't many pictures too look at in this one, so you have to make them in your minds alright?"

The three children nodded and Lexie began. "A long long time ago there was a kind old wizard with a magical cauldron…"

…..

"How were they?" Sirius asked as he entered the hotel room looking a bit disheveled at around six in the morning to find Lexie nursing a cup of tea, a copy of the Daily Prophet on the coffee table in front of her.

"No complaints." Lexie smiled, looking up at him. "Harry asked a few times in the middle of the night if you were back yet, but other than that, things really couldn't have gone smoother. No fights and everyone had a shower. They drew pictures as well."

"They were probably too tired to do much else." Sirius smiled, taking the pictures off the back of the couch and admiring them. "How are you even awake yet? The Lexie I remember hated being out of bed before nine at the earliest."

"I'm always up early in strange places." Lexie shrugged and rose from the couch, her pajamas a bit big on her. "Do you want some tea?"

"No thanks, I've got a ton of Anti-Sleep in my system, if it weren't for that stuff I think I'd probably pass out."

"How was the night?"

"It was good. Remus is taking a long rest before he comes back here, but he said it wasn't nearly as bad as it normally is. He felt more himself, I think."

"That's great, I'm glad." Lexie smiled and sat back down. "Those are some really awesome kids."

"Yeah, they are." Sirius beamed and headed into where the little ones were still out cold. Hermione was sandwiched between the two little boys, forming a weird little stack with Ronnie on the bottom, Harry on the top and pressed against the wall, two thirds of the bed completely abandoned. "They're always so funny in the morning… Yesterday, Hermione was sucking Ronnie's big toe instead of her thumb." He picked the camera up from where he had left it last night and took a picture. He was excited to get these ones developed, they would be an excellent addition to the walls of their home.

"That's hilarious." Lexie laughed slightly. "You've really taken to this parenting thing, haven't you? I mean, you seem to be doing a great job from what I saw yesterday, Lily and James would be pleased."

"Thanks." Sirius smiled back at her. "It was kind of nerve racking at first, because I wasn't sure it I was doing the right things, but I just followed the old schedule Lily had Harry one when he was a baby, and it's worked out. The Healer said once he starts getting into normal little kid trouble, then I'll know he fully trusts me, and we're getting closer."

"Or maybe he does fully trust you already, and he's just a good boy in general?"

"With his parents?"

"Good point." Lexie laughed, remembering exactly how Lily and James had been. Lily had been less trouble than James but she had definitely had her moments. She sighed. "Merlin, I miss them."

"Yeah…" Sirius frowned sadly. "But… they're still here with us, and they're in Harry."

"That's true. At least there's a little bit of them still around." Lexie nodded, smiling at the little boy who mumbled something in his sleep that sounded quite like Parsletongue. "I'd like to see him as often as possible, if that's alright with you? I mean…"

"Well, he is the son of your best friend too." Sirius nodded. "Of course you can, I'd really like that and I think Harry would probably be sad if you didn't."

"Great! Thanks, Sirius." Lexie beamed brightly.

"Paddy?" Harry sat up, rubbing at his eyes. He blinked as they adjusted a bit, making out the blurry figures at the end of the bed. He couldn't see very well without his glasses, but he did know what Padfoot looked like blurry. "Paddy!"

Sirius laughed as Harry crawled down to the foot of the bed and picked him up at soon as he got there. "I told you I'd be here in the morning, Prongslet."

"My Paddy." Harry beamed, closing his eyes contently, nuzzling against Sirius's neck and hugging onto him tightly, getting cuddly as he normally did.

"My Harry." Sirius kissed the top of his head. A night gallivanting as a dog could never compare to feeling of holding his sweet little godson.

* * *

I am truely and sincerely sorry about how long this has taken me to finish and get up, I know you guys have been waiting for an update. It took me a little while to figure out where this chapter was going, but I did and I hope you enjoyed it even though it didn't come out as well as some of the others. Please let me know what you think, I really appreciate hearing from all of you and do take your imput into consideration. Any ideas for future chapters would be much loved, I'd love to know what you want to see them do next! And do let me know what you think of Lexie as well!

Love as always, mwah!

S.Q.O.


	16. Time Outs

Disc... you know the drill by now, duncha?

* * *

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Sixteen: Time Outs**_

"See you later, Hermione! Thanks a lot for coming with us, we had a great time!" Sirius beamed, giving the little girl's hair a ruffle. She was buckled into her car seat in the back of her mother's car once again, a smile on her face at the fun she had had on holiday with her friends.

"Bye, Mr. Black! Bye Harry!"

"Bye bye 'mione!" Harry laughed, waving as the car door closed and Jean got into it.

"Thanks again guys! We'll see you soon! Remember, the nineteenth!" She called as she climbed into the front of the car and started it. They waved as they drove out of the driveway and then down the dirt lane. Harry watched them go from just outside the gate, smiling underneath his conductor's hat.

"Alright, mate." Sirius scooped him up and headed back in, making sure to shut and lock the gate behind him. He carried Harry up the stone path to the front door and pressed open the door, setting the little boy down in the hallway. "Go get yourself washed up for dinner, alright?"

"Otay, Paddy." Harry smiled and started up the stairs, using the hand railing and going one foot at a time to be safe.

Sirius watched him for a moment and then wandered into the kitchen, taking a deep breath at the lovely smell of hamburgers frying in the pan. Remus had got them started, but Sirius took over now, checking them to make sure it was time for flipping and then grabbing up the spatula to do so.

Remus yawned, resting his chin in his hand as he put burger buns on three plates and started topping them each with lettuce, pickles, and tomatoes. "Where's Harry gotten to?"

"I asked him to get washed up for dinner. He went upstairs."

"Oh good." Remus nodded his approval, letting out yet another yawn and putting some apple slices on each plate now. He was always quite tired for a few days after the full moon. Changing took a lot out of him and he needed plenty of rest, but had not been able to get much yet, having been helping Sirius with the children. To be honest, he was looking forward to finishing dinner so he could go to bed and perhaps have a bit of a lie in in the morning.

Sirius finished cooking the burgers and carried the pan over to place each down on it's own bun. He topped them with cheese which melted almost on contact from the heat and then placed each plate at it's rightful seat. He frowned, looking up towards the ceiling. Harry should have finished getting washed up by now.

"Go ahead and eat, Moony. I'll be right back." Remus nodded and Sirius left the kitchen, heading up the stairs.

Harry's bathroom door was closed, making Sirius frown. He knocked on it. "Harry? Are you alright?"

"Yes." Sirius breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's time to come down and eat now, what are you doing in there?"

"Er…. Nuuuuddin'…" A clanking noise sounded from inside the bathroom. Deciding it was better he checked this out, Sirius opened the door.

Harry stood on his little stool in front of the sink, his little eyes wide with shock at the door having opened so quickly. He blinked, looking up at Padfoot and giving him a toothy grin… only this was not the type of toothy grin he usually gave… but rather… Sirius blinked. That was the same smile James had always gotten when they'd pulled a prank and been caught.

"What did you do?" Sirius asked, stepping into the bathroom, almost as once feeling something wet soak up through his sock. He looked down to find the bottle of soap that normally sat on the side of the sink laying on the floor, it's cap gone and leaking into a neon blue puddle into which he had just stepped.

Careful not to slip, Sirius took another step, but got more wetness on his second foot, the floor was covered with water here… in fact… looking at it more closely… the whole bathroom seemed to be coated with a thin layer of water that went until it reached the doorway where the carpet of the hallway was soaking it up.

The sink was overflowing, the faucet on and bubbles spewing out of it. There was toothpaste all over the mirror and on the toilet seat and in the tub. How much could they fit in that one little tube? Toilet paper seemed to be spread out directly under the sink, great wads of it.

"I… I is washing up?" Harry asked, still that same grin on his face, though worry flashed in his eyes as he looked around. He'd been having a right good time until Padfoot had come upstairs…

"Harry, the bathroom is for bathroom things, not for playing in unless it's bathtime." Sirius turned off the faucet and picked Harry up off of his stool. His heart was soaring now. Harry had done something bad! He trusted him! He trusted him! Trying not to smile, Sirius sighed, looking around at all of the mess. "I know you know that. You've been very naughty."

Harry frowned, sticking out his lower lip and looking quite ready to cry. He knew he'd been doing naughty things in the bathroom, but he hadn't been able to help himself! The toothpaste just squirted so fun… and the water was fun… and then he'd tried to clean up the floor with the toilet paper… and then he'd knocked over the soap…

Sirius carried Harry downstairs and into the kitchen. He grabbed the little stool they kept under the sink and set it in the corner by the laundry room door. "Now, when little boys are naughty, they get a time out to think about what they've done." Sirius set Harry down on the stool. "You made a big mess in the bathroom on purpose so you will sit here for four minutes, do you understand me?"

Harry nodded, tears filling his eyes. He'd had time outs before, but normally when he got one he'd be locked under the stairs for hours and hours or Uncle Vernon would spank him hard on the bottom instead. His Padfoot had never given him a time out before…

Sirius sighed and got up from his crouch, heading over to sit beside Remus and start eating his dinner while keeping an eye on the clock. Remus looked drowsy and seemed to be half asleep, unnoticing of what was going on. Sirius winced as he heard a little sob come from behind him, but he didn't turn around. No matter how much it broke his heart to do it, Harry needed to learn right from wrong, and in order to do that, he had to be disciplined properly.

Four minutes seemed to last forever to Harry. He was rocking on his stool and still crying by the time they were over and Sirius came back over to him.

"Harry, do you remember why I put you in time out?"

Harry nodded, sniffling through his tears. "Cause I… I messed up da baffroom and I not apposed too." He let out a wail, rubbing at his eyes. This was it! He knew it. He'd been bad and now his Padfoot wouldn't want him anymore.

"That's right, Pronglet." Sirius sighed. "I want you to tell me you're sorry for making the bathroom a mess."

"I… I'm sowwy!" Harry cried harder, rubbing at his eyes now.

Sirius scooped him up, hugging him tightly and kissing his little scarred forehead. "It's alright, Harry. I forgive you. Do you know what forgiveness means?"

Harry sniffled, shaking his head and clinging to Padfoot.

"It means, that when someone says they're sorry, you let them know that it's ok, you aren't mad anymore. Alright? You were naughty, but you're sorry you were naughty, so I forgive you."

Harry nodded, cuddling up to Sirius again. "So… you is not gonna give me away?"

"Harry… you are mine forever and ever and ever. No matter how naughty you are, I will never give you away. I promise." Sirius laughed, hugging him close. "C'mon now then, let's eat dinner and then after we can really get that bathroom nice and clean, okay?"

"Otay." Harry smiled, glad that Padfoot wasn't going to give him away ever. He sat down in his chair and ate his dinner happily, enjoying the apple slices the best. He looked up with a laugh as a tapping came upon the kitchen window. He climbed down out of his chair and pushed the window out, opening it to let the owl in. He had learned that owls meant mail when you were a wizard and he quite enjoyed when they came. "Paddy! We hassa letter!"

"Thank you, Harry!" Sirius smiled and watched as the owl landed on the table in front of him and stuck out it's leg. He untied the letter and the owl flew off almost at once, clearly a professional. He noted Tricia's hand writing on the outside of the scroll and opened it. A piece of paper covered in paper fell out and Sirius handed it to Harry.

"Looks like Luna made you a picture, Harry."

"Ooooh!" Harry beamed, admiring the picture with a great big smile. He quite loved his little Luna sissy. Sometimes, when they were good and Tricia was over, she would let them use her owl to send pictures back and forth across the yard. "Is boooootifuls! Can I puts it on da wall, Paddy?"

"Sure thing, go right ahead!" Sirius smiled. "Remus could you….?"

"On it." Remus rose from where he was half slumped in his chair and followed Harry out into the living room where they had started on surrounding one doorway with the pictures Harry drew or the ones Luna sent him.

Sirius grinned, watching them leave the room and then turned his attention to the letter Tricia had sent him.

_Dr. Sirius,_

_The trial for the Dursleys will be taking place this in one week's time on the 27__th__ of August. Since they are Muggles, they will be tried by their own peers instead of our Ministry, however, I will be acting as a representative for the government. Harry will have to be in attendance to testify against them, though he will be in a separate room except for when he is testifying. I have already begged them to let him testify in a separate room alone in front of the judge and jury, but they had refused to allow it. Dress him nicely and prepare him before hand, let him know what is going to be happening…that the Dursleys will be there, but they won't be able to hurt him… I wish this were different._

_Luna and Xeno send their best and we hope to see you sometime soon,_

_Love, Tricia._

"Shit…" Sirius sighed, dropping the letter onto the table and listening to Harry giggle something about tape being stuck to his face in the next room. How could he let his precious boy… that child who had only just begun really trusting him… into a position like this? How could he ask him to sit in a chair and face the Dursleys while a ton of people looked on? He'd probably be so scared! But, judging from Tricia's letter, there wasn't much way around it.

Sighing, Sirius rose from his seat and peeked into the next room. Harry was admiring all of his pictures and dancing, tilting his head back and forth and holding his arms up at an awkward angle from his sides, opening and closing his hands. He and Remus called it Harry's 'crabby walk', because it was one of the two sole ways Harry danced. That, and jumping up and down while spinning in circles and then giving his hips a wiggle, always amused Sirius to see. Harry danced without music or with it, both of which was kind of impossibly adorable.

"Hey buddy." Sirius laughed, looking around to find that Remus had given up on trying to stay awake and passed out on the couch. "Oooh, looks like Moony is really sleepy. Shhh…"

Harry turned around and looked at Remus before he looked up at Sirius and nodded. He put a finger to his lips, and in that loud whisper that only kids could get away with and think they were still whispering said. "Paddy, Moony needsa take naps too."

"I think you're right." Sirius grinned, bending down to scoop Harry up and giving him a cuddle. He smiled, admiring Harry and Luna's artwork all over the wall. Sometimes he would come in and there would be a new picture he hadn't seen yet and it always make him smile. "Oooh, Harry! Is this your mummy and Lexie?"

"Mhm! And the sock spaghetti." Harry nodded, pointing to the pile of red, yellow, and socks in the corner of the picture. "And dat's doggy chu." Harry pointed to a big black mass standing on a line of green that Sirius took to be grass.

"They're excellent Harry." Sirius beamed with pride and then set Harry down. "It's getting on bedtime though, so what say you we go clean the bathroom and read a story?"

"Awwww, Paddy. Can't I stays ups?"

"Not a chance. And besides, it'll take a little bit to clean that bathroom. You did make a really big mess."

"I sorry, Paddy." Harry frowned, biting his lip and looking down at his feet, looking absolutely sorry about what he had done.

"It's ok, Prongslet. We just have to clean it up is all. Next time, think before you act, alright? It's ok to be messy on purpose sometimes, but it's better if you do it outside or if we're playing a messy game. Like painting or mudpies or shaving cream wars."

"Otay." Harry nodded and hugged onto Sirius's leg tightly. Sirius scooped him up and then carried him upstairs to the ducky bathroom that was still quite impossibly a mess.

It took about half an hour to get the bathroom back to it's original shiny state of cleanliness… without magic that is. Sirius thought it'd be a good idea to show Harry to satisfaction of a job well done by really working the elbow grease instead of just flicking his wand to make everything better. By the time they had finished cleaning the last of the toothpaste off of the toilet, Harry was all yawns and nods.

"Well, lookit this, Harry. The bathroom's all pretty and clean again." Sirius smiled, lifting Harry from the floor. "It's always good to try and clean up the messes we make, and you did a wonderful job. Now then, how about that story?"

"Otay!" Harry cheered, his chest swelling out at the praise he'd received. He'd been bad and made a mess, but his Padfoot seemed really happy now that he'd helped clean it all up. It made him feel good.

Sirius got Harry into his pajamas, tucked in, and read him his story. He would worry about telling Harry about the trial later. Maybe it would be better if he knew only a day or two in advance instead, that way he knew what was going to happen, but wouldn't have a ton of time to panic over it. It pained Sirius to know that the little sleeping boy hugging his lion and looking so…. Innocent… would have to sit in front of a bunch of people he didn't know in a room with a pair of people who had harmed him, and talk about life with those people. Sirius gave Harry a extra big kiss on the forehead and brought the covers up to the little boy's chin.

He was not about to let anyone or anything hurt his little boy.

….

"Alright, so you understand what's going to happen then, right Harry?" Remus asked kindly as he knelt in front of the little boy. Harry nodded, smiling.

"Alright then. Court is in session. The people vs Padfoot, the great and honorable, Judge Luna, presiding." Remus announced as he stood up fully. Luna came jumping and hopping, a great billowing black cape flowing out behind her and a white wig placed on her head, into the living room where they had set up their own little court. Tricia lifted Luna into the high chair that was acting as the judge's platform and put the tray on. Luna lifted up the squeaky hammer sitting on the tray and banged it against the chair.

"Orda in courts, orda in courts!" The hammer squeaked loudly and Harry laughed. "De case of da missin' cookehs is now unda way. How does chu pleads?"

"My client pleads not guilty, your honor." Tricia stated as she sat down next to Sirius on the couch. Harry sat a little ways away from them in a chair.

"Procustion, chu first witness pease." Luna stated simply. Sirius leaned towards Tricia.

"How does she even know these terms?" He asked curiously.

"Too much time at her Grandmother's. That woman is obsessed with court tv."

"I calls… um… Moony, what does I say again?" Harry asked, looking down at his 'evidence' papers.

"You want Padfoot to the stand."

"Padfoot to da stand!" Harry shouted, pointing to Padfoot who rose from his seat to go and sit in a chair next to Luna's high chair. Remus carried a book over to him.

"You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing else but the truth so help you or it will be dish duty for a week?"

"Yes." Sirius nodded and Harry rose from his seat at Remus's wave.

"Paddy, where was you dis morning at breakfast" Harry asked, grinning up at Padfoot happily. He was quite liking this game, though he wasn't sure exactly as to why they were playing it. Tricia had told Sirius it might be a good idea to introduce Harry to the Muggle court system before he had to be a witness against the Dursleys.

"I was in the kitchen."

"And what was you doing in the kitchen, Paddy?" Harry asked curiously.

"I was making breakfast." Sirius answered.

"But, wasn't you eating something, too?" Harry looked over his 'evidence' and held up a picture of Sirius nomming on a cookie.

"Maybe I was, it was breakfast time after all. You're supposed to eat a breakfast."

"But you was eating something that you wasn't supposed to be eating for breakfast." Harry shook a finger at Sirius and hold up the picture. "I has proof."

"where did you get that? Who have you been talking too?" Sirius asked, looking startled that Harry could have a picture of him in his pajamas, eating a cookie. "That could have been from last night, before bed for all you know!"

"But… dere's cookeh crumbses on your jammies, Paddy." Harry held up a baggy containing the cookie crumbs. "But they wasn't in you bed, so you hassa eated the cookeh after you was sleeping. And breakfast is what we eat after we sleeps."

"I… I… ok! Ok! I did it! I ate cookies for breakfast!" Sirius caved, trying not to laugh at the oh so serious look on Harry's face as he shook his head.

"Bad bad bad!" Luna slammer her hammer on the tray. "I sentence chu to… ten minutes time outs!"

"Oooooh." Harry's eyes wend wide. A whole ten minutes of time out! Oh, Paddy was in big big big trouble!

"Alright Padfoot, to the corner, you heard em." Remus stepped forward and too Siriu's arms, leading him away from the chair and into the kitchen where Harry's time out stool was sitting in the corner, ready to be used. Harry had been back to it only once since his last time out. Now Sirius sat down on it, facing the corner and trying not to laugh.

"Next up, the people vs. Honey Von Snuggles, in the case of the missing honey jar."

Sirius sighed, listening as they did another go through, this time accusing a teddy bear of stealing the honey from the kitchen cupboard. He really hoped this game would help Harry… the court date was tomorrow.

* * *

Whew, finally another one! Sorry about the lackage guys, internet went down for a bit, but we're back up and running now! Sorry for the lame chapter, I'm hoping the next one will turn out better than this one has. Anyway, keep reading and let me know what you think or throw and idea out there of what could happen next. I really appreciate every comment or suggestion.

Later alligators,

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	17. The Trial

Disclaimer: JK Rowling is the queen.

* * *

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Seventeen: The Dursley's get Served... er.. I mean.. The Trial._**

"There we go, Prongslet." Sirius smiled as he smoothed out Harry's tiny tie. The little boy was all dressed up, looking smart and clean, with a pale blue dress shirt and a Snitch shaped bow-tie. His black dress pants landed perfectly over his new shiny black shoes that he rather liked looking at. His normally slightly dirt smudged face was pink with scrubbing and his glasses had been shined to perfection. His hair, however, had been left as was, messy and crazy, but clean and soft as ever. Sirius lifted Harry up into his arms, snuggling him close to his side. "You look great."

"You too, Paddy." Harry beamed, glad that he wasn't alone in wearing fancy clothes. Sirius wore a black suit, his tie standing out a great deal due to the very friendly looking lion on it. Harry had picked it out when they'd gone to the shop. Padfoot had said he could bring his lion with him if he wanted to, just to have an extra friend.

"We all set? Ah! Don't you look fantastic, Harry!" Remus beamed as he peeked in through the door, his own brown tweed suit pressed and neat.

"You look 'tastic, too, Moony!" Harry laughed, squirming until Sirius set him down. He ran out of the room and into his bedroom to get his tiny train shaped backpack. Padfoot had gotten it for him for school, which hadn't started yet, but he said Harry could use it today. Sirius didn't know how long they'd be stuck in the courtroom, so he figured it best to pack Harry some things to do while he was in the other room. He'd packed a coloring book, crayons, Harry's train, the dragon book, and a snack complete with juice box.

Excited to be using his new backpack, Harry pulled it on and then snatched his lion up from his bed, hugging him tightly. "We're goin' ta court, Lion. Real court… where a growed up is da judge, 'stead of Luna."

"Ready to go?" Sirius asked as he came into the room. Harry nodded and beamed up at him before pausing for a moment. He frowned and ran back to his bed where his conductor's hat was sitting on the bedpost, ready for him. He tugged it on and then grinned. Sirius laughed, scooped him up, and then they headed downstairs.

Since they were going to a Muggle court building for the proceedings, they took Remus's old car, which he'd done a bit of transfiguring on the outside of, to make it look newer and cleaner than it had been previously. It still ran mostly on magic, but it was a good old thing.

It took about half an hour for them to get to London, and then another fifteen minutes to find the right road. Remus let the car wedge itself between two others, knowing that if he tried to do it himself, he'd probably end up denting it. Not that he couldn't repair it in a second flat, he just preferred not to be required to. The car would get angry with them.

"Well, here we are." Sirius sighed as he looked up at the large building before he turned around to pull Harry from his car seat. Harry gripped him tightly around the neck, looking nervous as he too, looked up at the building. It was bigger than their house… bigger than any of the shops he'd ever been to even. He gulped and buried his face against Sirius's neck, smelling in the familiar scent of safety.

"It'll be alright, Prongslet. I'm here, and Moony is here… and look there! It's Miss Tricia and Lexie!" Sirius pointed to where the two women were standing, obviously waiting for them. Harry lifted his head and then perked up a bit as he spotted them. Sirius carried him up the stairs and Harry laughed, launching himself at Lexie, having not seen her in over a week now.

"Hello Harry!" Lexie smiled, hugging him before he stretched for Sirius again, who took him back. Remus came up the stairs toting Harry's backpack and lion.

"Ah, good morning." He smiled and reached to give one armed hugs to Tricia and Lexie before they all marched inside.

"It's in here." Tricia pointed to a large wooden door a short way down a wooden paneled hallway with a deep blood red carpet. She pushed open the door and revealed a very large room. Harry gasped, his head falling back as he looked up at the ceiling and at all of the empty benches. They didn't sit down though. Instead, Tricia led them over to the northeast corner of the room where a smaller wooden door sat in the wall. She opened it and they followed her in.

It was a small room, with a couch, a couple of chairs, and a coffee table in front of them covered with old looking magazines. A plastic box full of toys sat in one corner. Another door was set into the wall adjacent to the one they'd come in through. Harry scrambled to get down and Sirius leg him, setting him on the floor and watching as the four year old made a quick beeline for the bucket of toys.

"I'll go find Mr. Piper… he's the Muggle social worker who'll be looking after Harry while we're in the proceedings."

"I thought Lexie was going to…" Sirius began but Lexie quickly cut him off.

"Oh, I'll be in here… But I bet it's a policy of some sort to have a social worker in here as well?"

"Yes. That's exactly what it is." Tricia nodded and pushed through the second door, disappearing down a corridor.

"Paddy! Lookit! A fire truck like mine!" Harry laughed, lifting the red toy high, beaming brightly.

"So it is." Sirius smiled and sat down on the floor to join him in his play before it was time for the trial to begin.

Tricia returned to the room followed by a stout man wearing glasses and a lopsided bow tie. He had a friendly air about him, and a kind smile on his face. He straightened his glasses and looked around at them all, his eyes scanning slowly to see who was in the room.

"Good day! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Hello." Sirius pushed up from the floor and held out a hand. "I'm Sirius Black. And these is my good friends Remus Lupin and Alexandria Owan. And this, of course, is Harry." He grinned, indicating the little boy on the floor as the man went about shaking everyone's hands. He bent low, getting right down on the floor by Harry who seemed so intent on the fire truck that he had yet to notice him.

When he realized that someone new… a stranger… had appeared beside him, Harry whimpered and crawled away quickly, ending up under the skirt of Lexie's blue dress, his head covered, but the rest of him quite visibly clutching onto one of her legs.

"Oh, it's all right little one, don't be frightened." Mr. Piper smiled and dug into the bin of toys. He pulled out a police car and set it on the floor. "Look here now, look what this can do!" He pressed a button on the top of the car and it's lights lit up. He pressed another and it's siren went off. Harry's face appeared, peeking out from under Lexie's skirt, his interest peeked.

"And… if you pull it back like this…" Mr. Piper demonstrated, rolling the car backwards a bit. "And then let go…" He took his hand off the top of the car and it shot forward, zooming across the floor until it hit the toe of Lexie's shoe. Harry laughed, grabbing up the car and pulling it back, watching it drive itself back to Mr. Piper. What a neat trick that was!

"Wow, Harry! Isn't that fun?" Sirius laughed, getting down on the floor. Harry nodded and climbed into his lap, watching as Mr. Piper sent the car back to him. He grabbed it and took his turn.

"Well, it looks like it's about time to go… people are arriving." Tricia stated, peeking out the door into the large room.

"Alright… Harry, Moony and I have to leave you now, but we'll be back soon, alright?" Sirius snuggled him and rose , setting him down on the floor.

'And don't you worry the slightest." Lexie beamed, reaching down to tug him up into her arms as his face began to contort with absolute sadness. "I'm going to stay and play with you and Mr. Piper. Padfoot and Moony will just be in the next room doing important things."

"Oh, ok!" Harry laughed, feeling much better now that Lexie was going to be in here with him. And his favorite grown up wouldn't be too far away… just the next room! That wasn't bad at all. If he needed them, he could go get them.

Sirius leaned in to give Harry a kiss and ruffle his hair, making Harry laugh again, his little face beaming with pride at the affection he was receiving. Oh, how he just adored his Paddy. "We'll see you soon, Prongslet."

Sirius, Remus, and Tricia moved to sit at a table on one side of the courtroom while the Dursleys and their lawyer were sitting at the one across the aisle from them, looking quite impossibly grumpy to be here.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Sirius…" Remus sighed as he watched Sirius stick his tongue out at the Durlseys before they sat down. He shrugged and situated himself in his chair.

"Quiet in the courtroom!" A large man came walking out of a door in the northwest corner of the room. "Black and the People of England versus Dursley, the great and honorable Judge Pi residing." A neatly dressed man in long black robes and white wig entered the room and moved to sit up in the behind the Judge's podium. He lifted his gavel and the room fell silent completely.

"You may begin your opening arguments."

Tricia rose from her seat, smartly dressed and serious. She placed her hands behind her back, pacing across the front of the room as she began to speak. "Tricia Lovegood, representative for the people of England. Your honor… jury… we are here today to discuss a matter that I, personally, believe to be one of the most vile acts against humanity in existence… child abuse." She paused for a moment, letting that sentence sink into the ears of those around her. "Know that I would not be standing here if I did not honestly believe that these people here…" She pointed to the Dursleys. "Are responsible for inflicting pain and suffering upon a child. Harry Potter is four years of age and has suffered serious mental and physical trauma at the hands of his previous care takers, Vernon and Petunia Dursley. After making a visit to his godson, Sirius Black gave me a call to inform me that he believed the child was being mistreated. After a quick investigation, I removed the child from the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley and took him under my own care until Sirius Black was legalized as the child's full time guardian. The Dursley's were given notice prior to the change of custody, a chance to remain the child's guardians, but they did not seek to do so. This I think, also indicates exactly how they felt about the child. They did not want him and that, is why they mistreated him while their own son has been raised like a pampered king." Tricia turned around and smiled kindly at the Dursley's lawyer. "Your turn."

"Eh hem." The lawyer rose, straightening his tie and moving forward while Tricia took her seat again. "Samuel Hudson representing the Dursleys. Your honor, the child in question was given the best care possible by the Dursleys after his unannounced arrival upon their doorstep nearly three years ago. They were not prepared for the child's arrival, nor informed beforehand, or asked if they would become his full time caregivers. They were given the child upon default, as the child's only remaining living relatives. Due to the fact that the caregiver named in the Mrs. Durlsey's sister, Mrs. Potter's will was currently incarcerated…" He glanced over at Sirius. "It is to be known that Mr. and Mrs. Dursley decided to respect Mrs. Potter's memory by taking in the child rather than send him away to a home for children. Under the circumstances, they gave him what he needed. They clothed him, they sheltered him, and they fed him to the best of their abilities. This child was not abused. He was well taken care of." With that said, Mr. Hudson returned to his seat.

"Mrs. Lovegood, your first witness please." The judge waved a hand and Tricia rose with a nod.

"I call to the stand, Sirius Orion Black." Sirius rose from his seat and strode across the room to take his seat in the witness's stand beside the Judge's podium.

"Do you pledge to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god?"

"I do."

"You may begin."

Tricia smiled and stepped forward. "First of all, I would like it shown on the record, that while Mr. Black was incarcerated during the past few years, it was upon false charges. He was promptly released and given a formal apology for his suffering. The paperwork is in front of you, Judge."

"Yes, yes, I have seen the paperwork. Continue."

"Mr. Black, it was you who first felt that something was wrong in the Dursley household?"

"Yes."

"And can you tell us, exactly what happened on the night of the thirtieth of July?"

"Well, I had been released from prison and the first thing I wanted to do, was check up on my godson as I hadn't seen him in nearly three years. I admit to being a bit rash, it was quite rude of me to show up on the Dursley's doorstep unannounced, and for that, I apologise."

"And I believe you were not alone?"

"No. Remus Lupin, a good friend of mine and the Potters, and our old teacher, Albus Dumbledore, joined me. They were both against visiting at such an hour without so much as a phone call, but after having heard about her sister from Lily Potter, I felt that we should see exactly how Harry was being treated. We rang the doorbell and when Mr. Dursley answered, we explained who we were and requested a simple visit with Harry. It was late, about ten o'clock, so he was in bed. My stomach told me something was wrong the moment I stepped into that house. There wasn't any indication that Harry lived there at all. There were millions of photos of the Dursley's son, who is not that much older than Harry, but not a single one of Harry. So, worried, I checked everywhere for him. Upstairs, the living room… I couldn't find him. So I called for him, I had to know he was alright… and then this pounding came… from the cupboard beneath the stairs. And this little voice was screaming to be let out. So I unlocked the cupboard… and there he was."

"And how did Harry look when you found him?"

"Like a skittery rabbit. He was petrified. His pajamas were old and worn out, his glasses had been broken and badly taped, so… so very little… and the only things in that cupboard with him was a blanket, a headless teddy bear, and spiders. There was no light bulb in the fixture hanging in the cupboard."

"And what happened then?"

"Well, Professor Dumbledore called the authorities and they took Harry away to be placed in your care until I could gain custody."

"Thank you. Your witness, Hudson."

Hudson moved forward as Tricia sat down. "Isn't it true, Mr. Black, that you barged into the Dursley's home in the middle of the night, unwelcome. You threatened the Dursley's and then practically kidnapped Harry Potter?"

"I might have overeacted and said some nasty words, but if you had discovered a child you loved dearly to bbe in a place where they were being mistreated, then what would you have done? Would you have sat there calmly and rationally? I don't think so. And I did not kidnap Harry. That would involve taking the child away from the home. I merely spent a little bit of time with him out on the front steps while waiting for the authorities to show up. He slept through most of it."

"And what was it you were incarcerated for?"

"Objection! Your honor, we've already…"

"Cease and desist, Hudson. That question has already been answered. Now then, have you anymore?"

"No sir."

"Thank you, Mr. Black, you may return to your seat. Your next witness, Lovegood."

"I call to the stand, Doctor Flanigan."

The Healer who had seen Harry for his check up at the beginning of the month rose from her seat and came foreward, sitting down in the witness stand.

"Good morning Doctor."

"Good morning."

"Now… I understand that you did a physical evaluation of Harry Potter less than forty-eight hours after his removal from the Dursleys, is that correct?"

"Yes it is."

"Could you tell me about the visit?"

"Of course." The Healer smiled. "My records indicate that I saw Harry on the first of August and that you and Sirius Black were both present for the examination."

"And do you remember how Harry acted?"

"He was nervous at first… His eyes were all over the place, like a frightened animal locked in a cage, but he warmed up to me after a few minutes. I measured his height, which was three and a half feet, which is perfectly average for his age, but his weight concerned me greatly."

"How much did Harry Potter weigh when you met him?"

"He weighed exactly twenty five pounds. He was at least ten pounds underweight, which, at his age, is very concerning. The average four year old weighs thirty five to forty pounds, and when you take away about over a fourth of that weight it can be detrimental to their overall health."

"So, are you saying he was malnourished?"

"Yes. He lacked calcium and iron mainly, oth of which are very important things at his young age."

"Did you find anything else concerning?"

"Yes. He had multiple bruises, mostly on his backside and a few on his upper arms where it looked quite like he'd been grabbed."

"Would you say that he had been mentally traumatized?"

"Yes. The way he acts around people… it's not just average shyness. It's an actual fear, you can see it in his eyes."

"Thank you, that's all I have to ask."

"Hudson, your witness."

"I have no questions."

"Very well then, bring in the next one."

Tricia looked at Sirius and he nodded.

"I call to the stand, Harry James Potter."

There was some whispering as the door opened and Lexie came out of the little room, holding onto Harry's hand. His little eyes widened behind his glasses as he caught sight of all the people in the room and quickly slowed his pace so he was hidden halfway behind Lexie, clutching onto her dress tightly.

"Here we are then, love." Lexie smiled and helped Harry up into the witness chair, having to nearly pry him off of her leg to do so. Harry gulped and clutched his Lion closely to his chest. His gaze went around the room… no… no… not here… not the Dursleys… and he burst into tears, moving to scramble down from the chair.

Sirius rushed forward, not able to bear seeing his little Prongslet so frightened. He lifted him from the chair and hugged him tightly, rocking him back and forth. "Shush, mate… it's all right. Nobody is going to hurt you here. Remember when we played our game? This is like that, and it's the Dursleys who are in trouble, not you."

Harry sniffled, shaking like a leaf as Sirius placed him back down in the chair. "We're all right here, Harry. We're not going to let anything bad happen, ok?"

Harry nodded and hugged his lion tightly to his chest again, his eyes watery as he averted his gaze from the Dursleys.

Tricia moved foreward, ushering Sirius back to his seat while Lexie stood nearby, up against the wall. "Hiya, Harry!"

"Hi." Harry sniffled again, rubbing at his nose with a bare hand and staring up into Tricia's kind face. He felt safer now, with her standing between him and the Dursleys. And there was Lexie to his side… and Padfoot and Moony sitting nearby at the table. He wasn't alone.

"Harry, I'm going to ask you some questions, all right? And I want you to answer them truthfully. Promise me you won't lie."

Harry nodded. "I promise. Lyin' is bad."

"That's right, good boy. Alright then… Harry, can you tell me how old you are?"

"Four." Harry cracked a little grin, that was an easy question.

"And what's your favorite color?"

"Red." Harry grinned even wider… this was easy.

"Do you remember when you used to live with your aunt and uncle?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded, biting at his lip. He was getting nervous again… he wasn't so sure he liked where these questions were going now, but then again… this was Miss Tricia. She'd always asked him questions and nothing bad ever happened when she did. And she was nice and she was Luna's mommy, and she was good at fun games.

"Did you like living with them?"

Harry gulped and shook his head. "N-no."

"Why not?"

"Er… they er… yells a lot." Harry whimpered, remembering all the times he'd been yelled at. He did not like it the least bit and cowered now, burying his face against his lion and peering up at Tricia as though begging her not to continue, but, though it broke her heart, she had to.

"What did you do when you were at the Dursleys?"

"I stayed in my cupboard."

"What else?"

"Er… I taked out the rubbish an' washed the floor an' washed other stuff."

"What did you do for fun? Where did you play?"

"In my cupboard. I played there when I got time outs."

"How long were your time outs?"

"A long long time. One time… I dropped a glass… an' I gotta time outs so long I missed lunch an' dinner an' tea an' breakfast n' lunch."

"Wow, that's a really long time out. Didn't you have to go to the potty?"

"Yeah, but I hadda stay in the cupboard."

"Why couldn't you leave just to go potty and go back?"

"Cause the cupboard got locked for time out n'there's no potty in there."

"So I bet you had a couple of accidents in time out then?"

"Yeah…" Harry frowned, looking slightly embarrassed as he wriggled in his seat. "Then I gots in trouble again."

"You got in trouble for having an accident because you were locked in the cupboard under the stairs so you couldn't make it to the potty in time?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded very seriously. "Then Uncle Vernon hitted me with his belts."

"He did?"

"Yeah. I didn't like that, but I was bad so I hadda." Harry winced as Tricia stepped back. It was a wonder Harry had even told he about it, let alone the entire room. He was being a very brave little boy.

"Objection! Your honor, obviously someone's been telling the boy what to say."

"I beg your pardon, Hudson, but I have here, photos, of Harry's bruises." Tricia dug into her file and placed them in front of the Judge for him to see. "If you look closely, you can see the imprint of a belt buckle…"

"I see… Give these to the jury. All evidence must be known." The judge handed the photos back to Tricia who gave them to the jury to look at. She hurried back over to the stand.

"Harry, thank you for being such a good boy and answering my questions, now it's Mr. Hudson's turn to ask you questions if he…"

"Oh… sod it all!" Hudson threw his file up in the air, the papers scattering about. "Your honor, these people are guilty of harming that little boy! I demand you put them in jail!"

"How dare you…" Vernon rose from his chair but Hudson shook a finger at him.

"No. I have done my best, but I cannot stand here and pretend I think you're innocent any longer. You don't even have a solid case or any witnesses of your own to prove you never laid a finger on that child. He's barely old enough to be potty trained!"

"Well then, this certaintly is a turn of events." The Judge laughed. "We will deliberate and then return to…"

"Your honor… after looking over these photos and hearing all of the witnesses presented, we have, unanimously, declared the Dursley's guilty of child abuse."

"So quickly?"

"It's a pretty cut and dry case, your honor."

"Very well then. I sentence Mr. Vernon Dursley to six years in jail for deliberately beating and starving a child… and Mrs. Petunia Dursley three years for aiding her husband in the act of abuse. Now who's buying me lunch?"

Sirius laughed, shooting forward to lift Harry from the stand and dancing about with him. Harry hugged onto him, smiling, wondering exactly what had just happened. "Paddy, are the Dursleys getting a time out?"

"Yeah, Harry, they're both getting nice long time outs."

* * *

Is it me, or is the ending kind of impossibly funny? It's probably just me, but hahahaha! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that! I'm quite pleased with the way this one turned out... though the ending could have been better. I don't know much about how the court system in England works, so I winged it and I don't know much about sentencing, so I winged that as well. Anyway, let me know what you thought and tell me what you'd like to see happen next!

Always with love,

S.Q.O.


	18. School

Discl... you know it.

* * *

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Eightteen: School_**

"Raisins?"

"Raisins."

"Cookies?"

"Cookies."

"Juice box?"

"Juice box." Remus handed Sirius the little box of juice and Sirius placed it carefully into Harry's lunchbox beside the bag of cookies and the box of raisins. It fit nicely in the little lunchbox that Sirius knew was just the right size for a preschooler's snack. Remus rose from his chair and headed into the hallway. "Harry! Come along, we need to be leaving in ten minutes."

"I'm comin'!" Harry called back down from his bedroom. He was having a bit of trouble getting the jumper of his school uniform on over his head. He came out of his room, arms stuck up in the air, hair peeking out of the top of the maroon jumper. "Moony… I think I'm stucks."

Remus laughed and headed up the stairs to help him. He gave the bottom of the sweatshirt a tug and Harry's head popped right up and through. "Well, there's your problem, mate. It got caught on your glasses." Remus smiled and fixed the collar on the white shirt Harry wore beneath the sweater. "Here, we've got to tuck it in as well."

"Aw, Moony. I dun like it tucked in."

"Those are the rules. White collar shirt, tucked into black pants, black sneakers, and a maroon school jumper."

"But Moony…"

"Harry, do you want to look spiffy or shoddy."

Harry sighed, not really caring much about how he looked. As far as he was concerned, he'd much rather wear his normal every day clothes as opposed to his new school clothes. "It's too hot for a jumper."

"Well… yeah, I suppose you're right about that. Tell you what, you have to pack the jumper in your bag, but you don't have to wear it so long as you wear your tie." Harry sighed again. The tie was black with the school's logo on it, not nearly as fun as his Snitch bow tie, which he'd wear even though it kind of choked.

"Oh… ok." Harry nodded, deciding he'd much rather not be so hot by wearing a tie than be super hot wearing his jumper. He tugged it off and Remus went into his room to get the tie. He helped Harry put it on right and then they headed downstairs to where Sirius was waiting for them at the front door.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Sirius smiled, jogging in place. "We don't want to be late on the first day, first impressions are important you know."

"Paddy do I haveta?"

"Yes, you do. You've got to learn your reading, writing, and maths. It'll be fun, I promise." Sirius smiled and unzipped Harry's train backpack. Remus folded up the jumper and put it inside on top of the lunch box. They'd also packed some pencils, and a folder, as per requested by the teacher. Harry added his lion and they zipped it back up before he placed it on his back.

"But Ronnie's mummy teaches him everything, he doesn't haveta go to school. Why can't I stay here wid you?" Harry asked curiously, frowning up at them both.

"Well, for starters, I am really bad at maths." Sirius stated simply, patting Harry's head. "And secondly, think of all the new friends you'll make!"

"But they won't be magic like Ronnie and 'mione." Harry pouted, looking down at his shoes. "I want Ronnie and 'mione."

"Harry, a person is a person whether they're magic or Muggle. You'll have a great time, I promise."

"'mione goes to Muggle school… will she be there?"

"No, 'fraid not, mate. Don't worry so much." Sirius smiled and took his hand, leading him out of the house. He lifted Harry up and carried him over to the driveway where his old wonderful motorbike was waiting for him, complete with sidecar. Now, if it had been a normal motorbike, he never would have dreamed of setting Harry down in the sidecar as he did now, buckling him in, and then plopping a helmet on his head, but it was no ordinary motorbike. He had put so many spells and enchantments on it over the years… it could fly, and was incapable of tipping over, it always landed right side up. "Off we go then."

He climbed onto the bike, put on his own helmet, and off they went, shooting down the dirt lane. At the end, Sirius veered to the left and it wasn't long until they were coming into the small village of Ottery St. Catchpole. The school wasn't hard to find, after the town hall, it was the largest building in the village.

A tall brick thing with three floors it housed both the primary and secondary schools for the entire village, which considering the size of the village, it was just fine. The kindergarten and preschool had their own tiny building off to one side consisting of two separate classrooms and its own smaller, fenced off outdoor play area that was friendlier for the smaller kids than the bigger playground was.

Sirius parked his motorbike in the lot and then hoisted Harry up and out of the sidecar, helping him off with his helmet. "Oh Harry, look! They've got swings, and a slide, and monkey bars, and a sand box… won't that be great fun?"

Harry nodded, his green eyes wide at the sight of the bright primary color painted playground equipment in the small play yard. There were no other kids out there yet, but there were ones out on the bigger playground meant for the older kids.

Sirius set him down and took his hand, leading him to the small brick building. It had two doors right in the center, both painted with bright colors and words that indicated one was for the preschool, and the other was for the kindergarten. Sirius opened the one that said Pre-School on it and pushed it open.

Noise assaulted their ears as they entered. Kids crying, kids laughing, kids screaming, yelling, chattering, running about. The room was split into five different sections with bookcases that held just about everything a kid Harry's age could dream about. There was a special tiled floor area for painting and coloring… a whole section full of soft fluffy pillows with shelves full of books around it, another one with toys and toys and toys, a little wooden kitchen and dress up trunk in it's corner, an area with coathooks and cubbies (this was where Harry and Sirius had come through the door) and a big space in the middle of it all covered with a round rug on top of the dark blue carpet.

"Why, hello there!" An older lady with a pretty face beamed as she spotted them and came over. She crouched down in front of Harry, smiling at him kindly. "I'm Miss Nancy, and I'm going to be one of your teachers. Can you tell me your name?"

Harry quickly grabbed hold of Sirius's pant leg and sindled behind him, peeking out worriedly. Sirius laughed and reached down, prying Harry off his leg and giving him a gentle push forward. "It's all right, Prongslet. Go ahead and tell Miss Nancy your name, she won't bite."

Harry bit his lip and shook his head, darting back behind Sirius ever so quickly you'd have thought he'd been stung by a bee.

"Well, I'm not scared to tell the nice lady my name." Sirius ruffled Harry's hair affectionately and then held out his hand as Miss Nancy straightened up. "I'm Sirius Black and this is my godson, Harry Potter."

"Oh, yes! It's very nice to meet you, both of you. I received your letter last week regarding certain circumstances. You need not worry, we've handled things like this before and we always take good care of all of our children. They are our future after all. Perhaps you'd like to stay with us for a little while, at least until Harry gets a bit more accustomed to the environment. Some of the other parents of the other kids will be staying, sometimes the first day can be a little bit scary. Isn't that right, Harry?" She crouched down again, still smiling. "It's a bit scary meeting new people and going to different places, isn't it?"

Harry nodded, peeking a bit more out from behind Sirius's leg. This lady didn't seem so bad… and she was a teacher… he'd never really had any problems with a teacher before. They'd always been quite kind enough to him when he'd gone to school with Dudley.

"Well, if you could find your name on your cubby and put your backpack there for now, we're going to be starting Good Morning Time in a couple of minutes now that everyone is here. I think there might also be a surprise for you in your cubby. Can you do that?"

Harry nodded. He was sure he'd be able to find his cubby without too much problem. He did know what his name looked like after all, and sure enough, after just a moment's searching, he found it. His cubby was painted blue on the inside and had his name taped above it in green marker. He peeked inside it and grinned.

"Lookit Paddy!" His smile grew huge as he pulled out his surprise. It was his name again, only it was written in big black letters on a laminated red crayon that had a string of yarn tied to the either side of it.

"It's a name tag, that's fantastic!" Sirius smiled and slipped it on over Harry's head, making sure the crayon was facing out. "Now everyone will be able to remember your name and you'll know everyone else's."

Harry beamed and tugged his lion out of his backpack before he put it in his cubby. He was glad to have his Padfoot with him, but he was still a bit nervous, so maybe Lion would help him be brave. He liked this place already… but it was still new and Miss Nancy was right, meeting new people could be very scary and there were lots of new people here.

"Alright everyone! Its time for Good Mornings, come and sit down here in a nice big circle around the rug." Miss Nancy called. With the help of the two other teachers, the wild bunch of kids was finally rounded up and seated in the circle area. Harry climbed into Sirius's lap. There were two other parents sitting with them all as well, their kids looking shy and nervous about starting preschool too.

"Alright everyone, we're going to sing a song to say good morning to all of our new friends. And when it's your turn, I want you to tell everyone what your absolute favorite color in the whole wide world is, ok? Here we go then…" Miss Nancy, smiling and pleasant, began singing to the tune of Are You Sleeping. "Good Morning Lucy, good morning Lucy, it's nice to see you. It's nice to see you." She paused, smiling down at the first little girl in the circle. "Can you tell us what your favorite color is?"

"Pink!" Lucy practically shouted, her eyes wide with delight.

"Oh, that is a wonderful color! Good morning Derek, good morning Derek, it's nice to see you, it's nice to see you. What do you like for a color?"

"Yellow."

"Yellow, that's a nice bright, happy color! Good morning Harry, good morning Harry, it's nice to see you, it's nice to see you. What's your favorite color, Harry?"

Harry looked up at Sirius, gripped his lion tighter, and then looked around at all the curious faces. Everyone here seemed really nice… and this song was fun! "Red!" He exclaimed happily, his whole being lighting up with pride.

"What a terrific color! Good morning…."

They continued, going around the circle until every child had announced their favorite color and sung to. By the time they got to the fifth person, the kids had caught on and were joining in. Harry was clapping his hands to the beat,

"Alright! What a magnificent good morning we had! I'm so happy you all sang along and said good morning to everyone. Next we're going to go around the circle again and I want you all to tell me about the best, most terrific thing you did this summer. We're going to go backwards this time though, so we'll start with Veronica."

Harry bounced slightly, excited. He knew he had the absolute best thing that could happen to anyone over the summer and he was quite eager to share it. He listened to the other kids tell short stories about excellent beach trips or holidays to their grandparents' houses, but he was sure he had the best one. No one else would be able to top it.

"Ok Harry, it's your turn. Can you tell us what the best thing that happened all summer was?"

"I…" Harry took a deep breath, his eyes shining with pure delight. "I gotta go live with my Padfoot and my Moony forever and ever and ever and I never ever ever hassa go back to the Dursleys and now I can do lotsa fun stuff with them like like…like.. we go swimming and play outside and eat ice cream and play with Ronnie and 'mione and Ginny and my sissy Luna, only she's not my real sissy, she's just my pretend sissy, and Neville who likes blocks."

"Oh wow, Harry! It sounds like you had a really terrific summer!"

"Mhm." Harry nodded, very proud of himself.

"And what did you did this summer, Derek?"

Once Derek and Lucy had told their stories, Miss Nancy rose from where she was sitting. "Alright everyone, it's time learn about our theme for the week. This week's is underwater lfe!" She reached onto the tall bookcase behind her and pulled out a stuffed shark. "We're going to learn all about fish and the different kinds of animals that live in water. Who can tell me a kind of animal that lives in water?"

…

Harry was impossibly content as he colored away at today's art project, a fish that had two separate pieces he had to color. After they'd heard a story about different creatures that lived in water, Miss Nancy had told them to find the table that matched their name tags. Harry's was the red crayon table, and there was red crayon just like the one that was his name tag taped to the center of his table. Some of the other kids had blue or yellow crayons, but Harry was proud to be one with a red crayon. It was his favorite color after all. The other red crayon kids consisted of a little girl with pigtails named Violet, another girl called Marny, and a boy whose name was Preston. There were fourteen kids in Harry's class altogether, there being an afternoon class after lunch for the rest of the preschoolers in town. The kindergarten worked the same way. Three hours in the morning for one bunch, a half an hour in-between, and then an afternoon class for a second bunch.

Sirius had snuck out after the story, giving Harry a big hug and kiss on the forehead before telling him he'd be back in a few hours. Preschool wasn't very long and he was sure Harry would be fine for the rest of it. He was laughing and getting along quite well with everyone now… it had just taken him a little time to warm up to the idea.

"Oh my, what a lovely fish you're making, Violet! Lots and lots of green." Miss Carrie, one of the other teachers smiled as Violet lifted her fish for her to see.

"My fish is good too." Harry announced, holding up his and Miss Carrie smiled.

"You're right, Harry, your fish is lovely as well, lots of red! And I like how Preston is sharing the blue crayon with Marny. That's very nice of you Preston."

Harry and Preston beamed with pride.

Afer the fishes were done being colored, everyone got their lunchboxes from their cubbies for snack time. Harry was quick to trade in his cookies to Marny for some chocolate pudding she had. While the children ate, Miss Nancy watched them, and Miss Carrie and Miss June took all of the fish, stapled both sides of each child's together and then stuffed them with newspaper so that they puffed out all pretty. They then added a string to the top of the fish, the child's name on the string with tape so that they would remember who it belonged to at the end of the week.

After snack time, Miss Nancy opened the backdoor of the classroom and the kids were allowed out once they'd put their lunch bags away. Harry did this quickly, wanting to get outside and play on that slide as soon as was possible.

Once his sneakers hit the dirt, Harry broke into a run, heading straight for the slide and climbing up to the very top. He slid down it, yelling out. "Woohoo!", his arms in the air. He hit the ground, his feet catching him and he ran around again and climbed up onto to find the top blocked by Marny. She was biting her lower lip and looking down quite anxiously. "Are you gonna go down?"

"It's too high." Marny shook her head, holding onto the railing and looking a bit petrified as she moved to the side.

"What if you climb down?" Harry asked curiously, pulling himself up onto the top platform. It was large enough for the two four year olds to stand on with ease. The slide itself was wide, giving the slider a lot of space to go down.

"That's too high too." Marny shook her head, looking quite ready to cry.

Harry pondered for a minute. He looked down at the slide… it was quite tall, but he wasn't scared of it. It wasn't nearly as big as that one at the pool when they'd gone on holiday to the beach. An idea striking him, Harry grinned and reached out, taking one of Marny's hand. "Wanna go together?"

Marny looked down the slide, seeming to think about it before she nodded. She sat down at the edge and Harry sat beside her, holding her hand . She gripped his tightly with her's and the side of the slide with her other one.

"Ready?"

"Uh huh." They pushed off, holding hands and the slide as they went down, whooshing fast and then slowing when the slide evened out at the bottom. Their feet hit the ground and Marny laughed. "That was fun! Can we go again?"

"Yeah!" Harry smiled and they shot back up the ladder.

After recess, the teachers called the children back inside, for it would soon be time for their parents to be picking them up.

"Our fishies!" One little girl squealed, pointing to the ceiling. All of their fish were hanging down on full felt his heart swell with pride as he looked up and found his red fishy. He couldn't wait to show Padfoot!

With half an hour left to their disposal, the kids were let loose in the classroom to play with the toys there, making it easier to round them up when their parents came. Harry laughed as Marny dragged him over to the big box of play clothes and they began dressing up, putting big hats or scarfs or silly jackets on themselves.

"Marny! Time to go sweetheart."

"Bye bye Harry!" Marny called, running to greet her mother. Harry blinked, looking around. Most of the other kids were gone… their mommies and daddies had come to get them. He frowned but moved over to where the large building blocks were. They were really great blocks, big cardboard things in red, blue, yellow, and green. He stacked them high, building a tower and then knocked them down. He built another tower, bigger this time, as high as he could possibly reach… and then he knocked that one down too. He looked around.

All the other kids were gone. He frowned and turned around. Had they all gone outside to play again without him noticing? He had been very focused on his building after all. He ran over to the window that showed the playground and peeked out. It was deserted. He turned back around and peered into the book area… no one. And then he looked in the cubbie area… no one was here either… and all the other kids bags were gone too. He took his lion from where someone had placed it in the cubby. He must have left it at the circle before coloring time… and hugged it tightly.

He went back into the play area where Miss Nancy was tidying up some of the toys.

"Where's my Padfoot?"

"He must be running a little bit late. Don't you worry, I bet he'll be here really soon. Until then though, how about you help me put some of the toys away?"

"Ok." Harry nodded, biting his lip and he picked up one of the blocks, putting it in its place on the shelf, gripping his lion still. He looked around. "I want my Padfoot."

"I know, he'll be here very very soon, Harry. It's all right."

"But… he promised he'd come back for me. He promised."

"He's coming. Here… how about coloring a picture?" Miss Nancy asked. She went into the art area and sorted through a milk crate full of folders. "I think I have a lion in here somewhere, would you like that?"

"I want my Padfoot."

"Here's a lion!" Miss Nancy pulled the lion picture out and set it on one of the tables with a box of crayons. "Come here and color, Harry while we wait and he'll be here before you know it."

"No… I want my Padfoot!" Harry burst into tears, feeling quite abandoned. He picked up one of the blocked and threw it as hard as he could at the wall and then ran for the cubbies. Maybe Paddy was waiting for him out in the parking lot. Maybe he hadn't come inside because Harry was supposed to meet him outside… maybe he'd just forgotten that… He grabbed at the knob on the door but it wouldn't open. There was some sort of white bulb over it… keeping him from turning it properly. He ran across the school room to the playground door… but there was a bulb here as well… "Paddy! PADDDYYY-YYY-YY!" He ran again, towards the other door, but he tripped over one of his blocks and lay sprawled on the floor. He cried harder.

Miss Nancy hushed him, helping him up. "Shhh, dear, it's all right. He's on his way, I'll bet you he'll be here in just a few minutes."

"He's not comin' baaaaaaaaaaaaaack…" Harry wailed, his glasses getting tears all in them as he tilted his head back and fell back down onto his butt, burying his face in his lion.

"Harry?"

Harry looked up as the familiar voice reached his ears and he sniffled slightly, trying to see through his glasses. And then there were arms wrapping around him and lifting him up, and a familiar smell went up his nose. "L-lexie?"

"Shhhh baby… I've got you." Lexie dug into her pocket and brought out a tissue, helping Harry dry his eyes and clear his glasses.

"Why're you here? Where's Paddy?" Harry asked, completely confused.

"Well, Harry. Padfoot decided it'd be a good idea to build a tree house."

"A tree house! COOL!" Harry beamed now, happy with that idea.

"But then he fell out of the tree and broke his butt."

"He broke his butt!" Harry's eyes went wide with wonder. He had never heard of anyone ever breaking their butt before.

"Yep. So Moony had to take him to the hospital, but he'll be all right. So, Moony asked me if I would pick you up for them today and it looks like it'll be just us for lunch. He said he hopes to be back by dinner though."

Harry laughed. Oh, silly Padfoot! He hadn't forgotten about Harry, he'd just been too hurt to come and get him. Harry supposed it would be very hard to ride a motorbike with a broken butt. He did hope he was ok… but then, Lexie had said he would be.

"Excuse me, but… legally I cannot allow Harry to leave with you unless you're on his list of designated pick-uppers. What's your name?" Miss Nancy asked as she went to her desk and rifled through files until she found Harry's and pulled it out.

"Alexandria Owan… I should be on there. Sirius put me down as a contact when he filled out the forms."

"Ah, yes! Here you are! Thank you for coming. Harry, I hope you had a lovely day at school today, and I will see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Ok!" Harry smiled as Lexie retrieved his backpack and took his hand. "Bye, Miss Nancy! Lexie, see my fishy! That one! With the red."

"Oh, it's magnificent, Harry." Lexie smiled and waved good bye to Miss Nancy and then, to Harry's surprise, she was able to get the door open. Huh…. Lexie must know the secret to the white bulb thing then. He was glad she had come… glad to have not been forgotten. He didn't think he could have born it if he'd been forgotten.

"Come on Harry, we've got a walk ahead of us."

Harry laughed, watching as Lexie swung his ackpack back and forth in her other hand as they started the two mile trek back to his house. She could apparate with him but for fear of Muggles seeing, but a walk in the sunshine… well… that wasn't so bad.

* * *

Whew, ok! Here it is, and there we go! I hope you liked this one, it was a bit rough towards the ending again, but I think it came out all right. Please let me know what you thought and if you've got any future suggestions, don't be afraid to put them out there!

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	19. Hermione's Birthday

Disclaimer: -insert usual JK is queen speal-

* * *

_His Boy_

**_Chapter Nineteen: Hermione's Birthday_**

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" Harry laughed as Sirius tossed him up in the air and then caught him as he came back down. He hugged him, laughing and shifting him to his hip as they continued to walked down the sidewalk of the blocks of suburban identical homes. It was September eighteenth, the day before Hermione's fifth birthday and they'd been invited over for a party to celebrate. Harry was quite excited. It was his first real birthday party aside from the ones the Dursleys had thrown for Dudley over the years, but he'd always been sent off for a 'nap' in the cupboard under the stairs when the other kids got there. "Paddy, is 'mione's odder friends gonna be there?"

"I think so, she invited her entire school class." Sirius smiled and rocked him slightly, enjoying the way Harry's smile widened at the idea of there being even more kids there. He was excited about seeing Hermione and had spoken of nothing else since he'd found out the other day that they were going to her house. "Ronnie and Ginny and Luna will be there as well."

"Hooray!" Harry threw his arms in the air, happy with this great news and then scrambled to be put down as they got to Hermione's front door. Sirius rang the bell and the door was opened by Hermione who seemed to have been watching out for people. She laughed, running to hug Harry and looking excited.

"Hi Harry!"

"Hi 'mione! I bringed you a present." Harry grinned proudly, pointing to the package in Sirius's hand. Hermione smiled and grabbed his hand, dragging him inside, Sirius following after them, the sound of children being loud hitting his ears almost as once. Hermione led them down the hallway and into a large hard wood playroom. There were mostly books here, but there were also plenty of toys that looked as though they'd been handled gently over the years.

"I'm going to go find your mommy. You guys have fun." Sirius stated, giving Harry's hair a ruffle and traipsing down the hallway to find Hermione's mum.

Harry smiled, looking around at all the other kids who had come for Hermione's birthday. She must have lots of friends at school, just like he did. Hermione held onto his hand and dragged him into the room where the kids seemed to be playing some sort of game that involved tapping each other on the head and running around in a circle… Harry knew this game! It was Duck, Duck, Goose. He'd played it at his school before.

"Harry! 'mione!" A flash of red hair announced the arrival of Ronnie and Ginny, closely followed by an over joyed Luna who immediately slid into a space in the circle of other kids. Ginny joined her, both giggling over something or other while Ronnie jumped up and down at his glee of seeing his friends again.

"Hi Ronnie!" Hermione beamed. "We're gonna play Duck Duck Goose."

"Yay!" Ronnie laughed, excited about the game and moved to sit down next to Ginny. Harry, sat between Ginny and Luna and Hermione moved to join them, sitting between Ronnie and another little girl who quickly glanced at her and shifted away.

"Ew, Her-heiny touched me!"

"Ewwww." Chorused almost the entire group of other kids. Hermione frowned, but didn't look surprised.

"Her-heiny, Her-heiny, nothing's grosser than Her-heiny." The little girl chanted, rising and swinging her hips in a sort of dance as she stuck her tongue out at Hermione who shifted closer to Ronnie. "I only came cause my mummy saids I hadda."

"Yeah!" A little boy this time, grimaced and stuck his tongue out at Hermione rudely. "Her-heiny, Her-heiny." He stood up and shook his bottom at her, egging all the other kids to do the same. Harry frowned, looking at Hermione who seemed close to tears by this point, but was trying very very hard not to shed them.

"STOP IT!" Ronnie's voice was louder than all of the others, his shout reminiscent of his mother's when it was dinner time and everyone was spread out throughout the house and yard at the Burrow. "STOOOOP IIIIIIT!"

"We dun gotta." A boy stepped forward, his tongue out, still dancing the Her-heiny dance. "We dun gotta do nothing you say!"

"Yes you do!" Ronnie stated right back, glaring as he rose to his feet. "Is 'mione's birthday, you're not allowed ta be mean ta her."

"We're gonna be mean if we wanna." The boy stated back.

"Then I'm gonna beat chu up." Ronnie glared back at him, stepping forward. He had seen his brothers handle things this way and felt that it was probably the best idea right now. He was taller than most of the other kids, it coming naturally, and the other boy seemed to back away a bit at this threat.

"You can't beat me up, I'll beat chu up first." The other boy stuck his tongue out, hands on his hips.

"Then yer gonna get a really long time out!" Harry stood up, joining with Ronnie, both of them standing in front of Hermione.

"Her-heeeeiny, Her-heeeiny, it's really big and shiiiiiny." The boy sing songed, waving his hands to get the other kids to join him again. Appearently they had several versions of their little song.

Ronnie's little ears got redder and redder, and then, before the other boy knew what had happened, he was being tackled to the floor. "Don't you dare call my 'mione names!" Ronnie yelled before Harry tugged at him.

"We should tell the growed ups." Harry didn't want Ronnie to get in trouble for hurting the other boy. Ronnie nodded, climbing off of the other boy who still looked startled that he'd actually been taken down.

"C'mon." Ronnie reached down and grabbed hold of Hermione's hand, dragging her up and towards the door. "C'mon. We dun gotta listen to these poopbrains."

Harry tugged at Ginny and Luna to get them to follow. He stuck his tongue out at the other kids who watched them go in shocked silence. Apparently no one had stood up to them before when it came to this situation. They followed after Ronnie and Hermione who went straight for the kitchen.

The adults were in here. Hermione's mommy and daddy, Sirius, Mr. Weasley, Tricia, and a few other mommies who belonged to the other kids back in the playroom. Ronnie marched right up to his father and tugged on his pantleg until he looked down.

"They was calling her names." He said, pointed to Hermione and then back at the playroom.

"Oh no, not again." Mr. Granger sighed and scooped his daughter up, hugging her close. "Sweetie, I thought you said the teachers made it stop."

"Y-yeah, but… there aren't any teachers in the playroom." Hermione sniffled, burying her face in her father's shoulder.

"Paddy, they was being really mean." Harry stated, sounding completely affronted. He did not like anyone picking on his friends, He had thought the kids from Hermione's school would be nice, but they weren't nice at all. They were mean, just like the kids at his old school.

"Well, Harry, you guys did the right thing by coming and telling us. Who started calling names?"

"B-b-bianca…" Hermione's shoulders shuddered and she wailed, able to do so now that she was surrounded by adults and friends she trusted.

"My Bianca?" One woman stood, looking quite shocked. "I highly doubt my daughter would cause such a disruption. She's about a good as gold."

"Well, we'll just have to talk to the others then." Mrs. Granger suggested. Whenever Hermione came home crying, she always named Bianca as the instigator. That child needed a serious time out and less spoiling as far as she was concerned.

"It was the girl with the pigtails." Ronnie stated. "The blonde one, with the big pink bows. And the boy with the green and blue shirt."

"You must be mistaken, sweetheart." Bianca's mum stated sweetly bending down to Ronnie's level.

"Well, how can he? He doesn't know the other children's names, he's a family friend." Mrs. Granger stated coldly, headed down the hallway towards the playroom. The others followed after her.

"Mommy! That boy pushed me!" The little boy who hard started the chanting wailed, running forward to cling to the legs of a harried looking woman who scooped him up.

"What did you do to make him do that, Nathan?" She asked, knowing full well that he was a trouble maker, no matter how much she loved him.

"Bianca, were you calling names?"

"Oh no Mummy, I wasn't. Nathan was." The little girl who had first called Hermione 'Her-heiny' beamed innocently up at her mother. "Hermione's lyyyying."

"No she isn't! 'mione never lies!" Harry glared at the Bianca, quite displeased. "You called her names and then everybody else called her names too. You needa time out."

"Nu uh! I dun get time outs, I'm a good girl!" Bianca stuck her tongue out at Harry. "You needs a time out for being dumb!"

"Harry's not dumb!" Ginny shouted, stomping forward and pushing Bianca before anyone could stop her.

"Ginny, we don't push." Mr. Weasley grabbed his daughter by the arm gently, tugging her away from Bianca. "Now apologise."

"No. She was mean first." Ginny glared at Bianca, her brown eyes full of fire.

"Ginny Weasley, it doesn't matter who did it first, you do not push people, is that understood?"

Ginny pouted, but nodded, grumbling to her little three year old self about meaniepoopheads who shouldn't be allowed to come to birthday parties if they were just going to make fun of the birthday girl.

"Come along Bianca, I'll not have you apologizing for something you didn't do." Bianca's mum stated simply, picking up her daughter who grinned down at them all so very smugly. Even with the word of several children, she wouldn't believe that her precious angel could do any wrong. The other parents watched her go, feeling sorry for the child who would never know how to treat others properly if she was never punished for treating them poorly, but such was the world of ignorance.

"Well, let's get back to the party then, shall we?" Mr. Granger asked, heading for the kitchen. "Everyone to the dining room for cake!" He called and there was a sudden stampeding of little feet, everyone wanting to be the first to the dining room so they could have some cake.

Hermione got to sit on the big chair at the end of the table while Mrs. Granger carried the large, pink frosted cake into the room, it's five candles glowing brightly. She set it down on the table in front of Hermione who beamed and then blew them out as soon as the happy birthday song had been sung. Mr. Granger helped her cut it up and hand it out, letting Hermione pick who got which piece.

"Alright everyone, finish up, we're doing games next. How about a little pin the tail on the donkey?"

"Donkey! Donkey!" Ginny gave a squeal as she danced about in a circle, having already eaten her plate clean just like the good little Weasley she was. She bolted from the room closely followed by a troop of other kids all intent on playing games.

In the backyard, Sirius helped tie blind folds around each child's head in turn, giving them all a chance to pin the tail in the correct spot without being able to see it. They let Hermione go first, seeing as it was her birthday after all, and she immediately missed the donkey's rear end and stabbed it right in the ear. She took off her blindfold and frowned. "I didn't get it right."

"That's otay, 'mione. Now he hassa earring." Ronnie smiled at her, patting her shoulder.

"Yeah." Hermione giggled, glad that Ronnie had pointed that out for her as opposed to continue feeling sad about not getting the tail in the right spot. She was happy now and it showed in the large smile on her face.

Harry clapped his hands together, watching as Ginny tagged the donkey with a tail to the nose and then Ronnie gave it a try, reaching out and feeling the mat. His hands found Hermione's tail and then moved his up a little, pinning it right on the other ear. He tore off his blindfold and then laughed. "Look! Now he has two earrings!"

"Yay!" Hermione laughed and danced around a bit.

"I missed!" The next child, a little boy called Henry whimpered, his eyes filling with tears as he stared at his misplaced tail.

"It's okay, Henry!" Hermione smiled at him kindly. "I didn't get it either."

"Me too." Harry nodded, pointing to where his own tail was positioned on the mat. "I didn't even get it on the donkey."

"Where did you all learn to be such good sports?" Mr. Granger beamed, quite astounded that so far, most of the four year olds hadn't whined about not getting the tail into the right spot.

"My Daddy says games are for fun, not just winning." Ronnie stated proudly, pointing to his dad who was over helping Jean put apples into a large bucket of water.

"Paddy says a same thing." Harry nodded in agreement, knowing that it made Padfoot happy when he listened to him. "'cept for Quidditch."

"Yeah." Ronnie agreed. "Quidditch is made for winning."

"Quidditch?" Mr. Granger looked mildly confused.

"It's a game. You play it on…"

"A field." Sirius cut in quickly, scooping up Harry before he could say anything else about the wizarding sport in front of a bunch of Muggles. "These two like to play their made up games. Something to do with a ball and a bunch of rules I don't understand, but that's how kids are."

Mr. Granger laughed, nodding his head, knowing exactly what Sirius meant. Hermione was always making up little games with her stuffed animals and books. "Oh yes, they're at that age. The other day I had a little boy come into my office for a cleaning and he was wearing a towel as a cape. Apparently, even super heroes don't like my metal scraper. Speaking of which, how are Harry's teeth doing?"

"They're excellent. Brushes and flosses every morning and night."

"Good good." Mr. Granger smiled. "At this age, it's not as worrisome since they're still just baby teeth, but once they get their adult teeth, that's when you've got to watch them like a hawk."

"Of course." Sirius nodded in agreement, knowing that if Harry ever managed to get a cavity, well… he'd just take him to the Healer and it'd be fixed up good as new with a simple anti-decay spell.

"Paddy!" Harry yelled, coming running over to Sirius, a bright red apple held high in his small hand, his face sopping wet. "Paddy! I did it! I got the apple!"

"Great job, Harry!" Sirius beamed, scooping him up.

"Oh Harry." Jean came hurrying over with a towel, laughing. "I tried to dry him off, but he was just too excited to show you." She pressed the towel over Harry's face gently, getting him cleaned up. Harry laughed, pushing at the towel.

"I got it! I GOT IT!" Henry laughed, spinning in a circle, holding up his apple like it was the greatest thing on the planet. He danced about, tripped on his shoelace, and before anyone could grab him, he fell backwards, butt first, into the apple dunking tub.

He sat there in shock for a moment, his eyes welling with tears.

"It's ok Henry." Hermione quickly grabbed one of his hands and gave him a tug. Ronnie grabbed the other and together, they managed to pull Henry out of the tu. He burst into tears, his clothes all wet.

"It's all right." Mr. Weasley tried to assure him as he picked him up off the ground, not even wincing at getting wet himself. Sirius hurried over as well, setting Harry down as Jean unfolded the large towel and got it wrapped around the four year old.

"Shush, Henry, it's all right. A little water never hurt anyone. Come inside now, I'll get you all cleaned up, hmm?" Jean took Henry and carried him into the house.

"Well then… who wants to o next?" Mr. Weasley asked, clapping his hands together and looking down at the group of pre schoolers. Hands were raised and the bobbing continued.

When Henry returned from the house, he was wearing a pair of jeans with a butterfly on the back and a blue shirt. It was the best Jean had been able to do, only having a girl.

"Henry's wearin' girl clothes!" Marco shouted, laughing and dancing about as he chewed away at his apple.

"None of that." Sirius snapped, patting Henry's head and offering him back his apple that had been left outside. Henry took it, his little cheeks turning a bit red at the remark.

"But he's a boy." Marco stated, looking not the least bit afraid that he'd been spoken to. He made faces at Henry.

"Come on." Harry stated adbruptly grabbing Ronnie's hand once the adults had turned their attention back to the bobbing apple.

"Where we going?" Ronnie asked curiously as they went up the back steps and into the house without being noticed. They traipsed through the house and up the stairs, Harry leading the way until they found Hermione's bedroom. "What're we doing?"

"Helping Henry." Harry stated simply as he tugged out a drawer in Hermione's dresser. He pulled out a green skirt and a purple t-shirt, chucking them to the floor before stripping off his own clothes. Ronnie's eyes widened as Harry began pulling on the shirt.

"Harry! We can't wear girl clothes! We're boys." He said quickly, looking around nervously.

"Paddy says friends help each odder. Now you gonna help Henry or not?"

Ronnie gulped and then sighed with a nod. He went to the closet and tugged down a very frilly pink dress he'd seen Hermione wearing once and had really actually thought was quite pretty… for girls clothes that was. He shucked off his own clothes and pulled the dress on over his head, getting a bit caught up in it halfway through. Harry helped him tug it down and, together, they managed to get it zipped up.

Harry looked around and grabbed a pair of Hermione's shoes, pulling them on and tossing some more to Ronnie who heaved another sigh, but pulled them on without another word. They peeked in the door mirror and Harry patted his head."Girls put stuff in they's hair."

"Yeah." Ronnie nodded, seeming a bit more willing now. He looked around and then pointed to a basket on the dresser that contained various hair clips, headbands, and scrunchies. He reached up and pulled it down, falling backwards and spilling the contents all over the floor. "Oh, lookit!" He laughed and held up a bow on a hair band. He wrapped it around his head as Harry fumbled with a clip, finally managing to get it locked in his hair by slamming it down on his head. He added a couple more for good measure and then they turned to look at eachother.

"Looking good Ronnie."

"Yeah." Ronnie grinned at him and they headed back down stairs and outside to join the party again.

Ronnie strutted proudly over to Marco and pushed him away from where he was poking fun at Henry again. "I'm wearing girls clothes too, Henry."

"Me too, Henry!" Harry added, running over, skirt flying. "See? We're all boys and we're pretty."

Henry beamed so brightly, Harry felt very happy that he'd put on girls clothes to help his new friend feel better.

"Those are mine." Hermione laughed, squealing excitedly at the fact that her friends were being silly.

"Harry, what in the name of Merlin…?" Sirius asked as he finally caught sight of the boys. Harry smiled up at him and stated, very plainly.

"Henry has to wear girl clothes, so we're wearing girl clothes too."

"I see that. You're a good friend, mate." Sirius laughed, hugging Harry proudly. His godson may be wearing girls clothes, but it was definitely for a good cause. Besides, it really didn't matter to him what Harry wore so long as he was happy, it was proper for the season, and covered where he needed to be covered.

"Hey… Hermione, can I wear some of your clothes too?" Marco asked after a minute, looking quite like he was feeling left out. Hermione seemed to ponder it over for a moment and then nodded.

"Ok. But you hasta wear what I pick."

"Ok." Marco smiled.

"I wanna wear some too!" Shouted a little boy called Anthony, his eyes widening at the idea of playing dress up. There was a murmuring of agreement from the rest of the group. Not wanting a mutiny on their hands, the adults herded the kids all inside to the play room where Jean brought down a couple of arm fuls of Hermione's clothes and set them on the floor for the kids to play with. Dresses and skirts were put on over shirts and pants. Hair accessories flew everywhere and soon, it was one of the most interesting looking bunches of children one had ever seen.

Sirius got out his camera, not wanting Remus to be completely left out. He was spending the day recovering from another full moon and, though he was a bit sad not to be able to go, he was glad for a bit of quiet in the house. Sirius made sure to take a lot of pictures, getting a really nice one of Hermione being hugged from either side by Harry and Ronnie, all prettied up. "Another one for the mantle, right next to the toe sucking one." He said to himself as he took it, knowing full well that, later in life, the pictures would probably embarrass the kids, but Sirius knew he'd have a blast telling the stories behind them.

The party flowed fairly easily after that. Hermione opened her gifts, squealing over an extra thick encyclopedia of dinosaurs that Harry had picked out for her, and then goodie bags were handed out as parents came to retrieve their children.

Jean placed a basket beside the door to help those who had played dress up, out of her daughter's clothes with ease. Most of the parents laughed when they saw their children all fancied up. Marco's father was not the least bit pleased.

"How dare you allow my son to put on a dress. He's a boy!" The man raged as he yanked the dress up and off of Marco and tossed it aside. "These are not the types of things that young impressionable minds should be taught as being ok. It leads to dangerous habits later!"

"I have absolutely nothing wrong with my son playing dress up." Henry's mother stated as she helped Henry put his now dry shirt back on. During dress up play, the little boy had exchanged his shirt and jeans for Hermione's sailor dress, saying that his favorite color was blue. "Children like to make believe. What were you pretending to be, Henry?"

"A ship captain, like Daddy!" Henry laughed, saluting her. She smiled.

"What about you, Marco?"

"I wassa fireman!" Marco grinned, pretending to hold up a hose. "See?" He held up the dress he'd been wearing. "It's red and long like a fireman's jacket!"

"There now, see? A fireman. Nothing wrong about that."

"Well I…" Marco's dad still didn't look convinced. He picked up his son and left without another word.

"Paddy, why was Marco's daddy so mad?" Harry asked a bit later as he tooted on his red kazoo, walking down the side walk next to Sirius.

"Some people think boys shouldn't do girl things, and girls shouldn't do boy things."

"But… I like playing dress up and girls like playing dress up, and I'm a boy. And Hermione likes dinosaurs better than dolls and she's a girl."

"That's very true Harry. It's ok for boys to like girl things and girls to like boy things."

"Would you love me if I liked all girl stuffs and no boy stuff?" Harry asked curiously, looking up at Padfoot, kazoo in his hand.

"Harry, I would love you even if you wanted to wear dresses all the time and play with baby dolls." Sirius smiled, swinging him up into his arms and hugging him. "I love you because you're you. You're Harry, and you're perfect just being Harry." Harry smiled, hugging his arms around Padfoot.

"You're perfect just being, Paddy too."

* * *

First, I would like to apologise for my very very long absence. I've had my hands full with a very energetic puppy, two fiesty kittens, and working the holiday season in retail. BUT, hopefully now, I shall have more time. I hope you all have a very lovely holiday season and enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed having the time to actually finish it. Please let me know what you thought.

With love, as always,

S.Q.O.

PS. The puppy's name is Luna and she has Ravenclaw colored eyes, and the kittens are dubbed Molly and Arthur-who-I-refuse-to-call-Michael-because-that's-my-brother's-name-and-my-mom-and-little-brother-are-effing-crazy.


	20. Halloween

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Twenty: Halloween_**

"CHOOOO-CHOOO!" Harry ran through the house, waving his conductor's hat high in the air. A large cardboard box painted to look like a train with six round wheels and a large cylinder for the whistle wiggled slightly from his chest to just above his knees. It was strapped onto his shoulders with a pair of belts tightened to the right length to keep the train from falling off of him. "CHOOCHOO!" He also wore a pair of blue and white striped overalls over a red t-shirt to match his hat. He had been insanely excited when Moony had suggested the idea for his Halloween costume when they'd been at the shop instead of going for a super hero or animal. Harry had even been able to help paint his train… mostly red of course.

"Choo-choo." Sirius laughed, wearing a similar costume, only his was the black coal car, his face smudged with ashes from the fireplace to make him more realistic. Remus followed next, a green passenger car that had little people drawn in the windows. And lastly, after much begging on Harry's part, Lexie had agreed to come along as the bright red caboose. "Harry, we need to get going if we're going to meet up with our friends in time for trick-or-treating."

"Ok!" Harry laughed, chugging his feet towards the front door where his pumpkin bucket sat by the door. He snatched it up and pressed at the front door. Sirius opened it for him and they all deboxed to get into Remus's car.

The trip to the center of town where they were to be doing their trick or treating was already getting crowded. Remus parked along the edge of the street and Lexie helped Harry out onto the sidewalk, his eyes looking around wide with wonder. This was his first time trick or treating. For the past couple of years, the Dursley had dressed up Dudley and taken him out while Harry was left with their neighbor, a Mrs. Figg. She was nice enough and sometimes fed him a bit of stale chocolate cake when he came and then they would mostly look at pictures of all of her many cats. Harry liked her ok despite how her house smelt of cats. At least she never yelled at him, so most of the time he rather looked forward to going over to her house. However, last Halloween he'd stood at her window watching all of the other kids coming and going in their costumes, getting candy, and feeling incredibly left out. Mrs. Figg had given him a lollipop, but it hadn't really changed the fact that Dudley got to be out there having fun and gathering sweets while Harry was trapped inside.

"Haaaaarry!" Luna called, running at him. She was dressed in what could only be described as the most colorful sunflower anyone had ever seen. Each petal was a different color around her head and she wore a long tube of green down to her ankles, out of which her arms came, shaped like leaves with holes for her hands to come out the front. "Harry! We're gonna get candies." She hugged Harry, her own pumpkin bucket swinging back and forth and hacking him in the shoulder. He hugged her back, not even noticing beimg bumped with the pumpkin. "I'mma flower."

"I'mma train con-con… driver." Harry grinned, holding his arms up to let Sirius slide his train down onto him. Harry adjusted his straps to make them comfy on his shoulders and then looked around, holding onto Luna's hand, for Ronnie who was supposed to be coming with the rest of his family. It was kind of hard to find them. Harry was looking for a lot of red hair, but it was Remus who spotted them first. He waved.

"Hi!" Ronnie laughed, swinging his pillowcase above his head. He was dressed as a fuzzy lion, the hood and mane around his face hiding his hair. His face had been painted with a black nose and whiskers. He looked really cool.

"Wow Ronnie! You look awesome!" Harry laughed, poking him and then checking to see if he had a tail. He did.

"Thanks, my mummy made it for me." Ronnie beamed proudly, looking back at his mother and father. Mr. Weasley was carrying Ginny who was dressed as a pumpkin, her limbs green while her middle was very round and very orange. "I was the pumpkin last year when Ginny was the puffskein. Mummy says Fred and George were pumpkins when they were three too. And Percy, and Bill, and Charlie. And afore that they was all puffskeins." Ronnie informed Harry. "But I'm four now, so I got to pick what I wanted to be."

"I like bein' a punkin." Ginny stuck her tongue out at Ronnie, dancing in a circle as she was put down on the sidewalk.

"And what're you pretending to be?" Tricia asked kindly of the twins who had mischievous little grins on their faces. They wore only their Christmas sweaters from the past year, a G on one, an F on the other, looking quite normally themselves.

"I'm Fred." Said the twin with the F who, after a moment, Harry realized was actually George.

"And I'm George." Fred grinned and they laughed, looking quite pleased with their prank. "It's a trick, see?"

"I have to admit, it was quite ingenious of George to come up with that one." Molly beamed, patting George on the head.

"I'm Fred." He stated, shaking his head at her.

"And you call yourself our mother." Fred laughed, but hugged Molly anyway. When you were six it wasn't too uncool to be hugging your mum in public.

"Well I should think you would be more grateful, since she did give you life after all." Percy state snidely. He wore a little suit, pressed firmly, his hair greased down, and his candy bucket appeared to be a beaten down brief case. "I wanted to be the Minister of Magic, but Father said we are to be mingling with Muggles, so I've settled for a business man instead. They do really well, you know. I almost didn't dress up this year, because I am getting a bit old for it, I am eight after all. Charlie dressed up last year when he was ten, so I figured it was all right. He and Bill are at school. "

"Yes, so I've heard. It's a very nice costume, Percy." Remus laughed at Percy's indisputable smugness at his costume choice. He pulled on his passenger car box. "Shall we get on then?"

"Yay!" Harry cheered. He held onto Luna's hand as they walked, having not seen her in a while. He'd been busy going to school and she had been away on a holiday with her father hunting for something called a Crumpled-Horn Snorkack. He was quite pleased to see his little sissy. "We're gonna get a lot of candy, Luna."

"Yeah." Luna agreed brightly, swinging her bucket in her other hand.

"Alright guys, here we are. Go on up." Sirius stated, pointed to the first house. The little kids ran up the walk first while the grown-ups waited on the sidewalk, Percy taking up the back to make sure they all did as they were supposed to and to remind them of their thank yous. Fred rang the bell.

"Trick-or-treat!" The little bunch of wizards called gleefully as the door opened, holding up their buckets and pillow cases in anticipation, their eyes shining.

"Oh my goodness, what have we here?" A lady wearing a dressing gown and looking tired. She was bouncing a blue blanket in one arm. Harry recognized her as his friend from school Marny's mummy. She came to pick Marny up sometimes, but mostly Marny's big sister would get her. "Let's see… we have a brave lion…" She placed some candy in Ronnie's pillowcase. "And a pretty flower… and a beautiful pumpkin… and… what might you be boys?"

"I'm him!" The twins laughed, pointing to each other with one hand while holding out their pillow cases with the other.

"Ooooh, very creative! And you're… Clark Kent?" She asked Percy who shook his head, looking a tiny bit affronted.

"I'm a business man, ma'am."

"Oh yes, of course! How silly of me." Marny's mummy dropped some candy into Percy's pillow case. "Ah, and I know this train conductor. How are you, Harry?"

"Good." Harry smiled, holding up his pumpkin, his grin growing at the sound of candy hitting the bottom. He pointed to the window by the door where he could see Marny peeking out from behind the white curtains. "Marny's not trick-or-treating?"

"No, I'm afraid not. I haven't the time." She switched the bundle into her other arm, setting the candy down as the baby inside began to fuss.

"She can come with us!" Harry perked up, waving at Marny who waved a little bit back, looking kind of like Harry felt last year when he watched all the kids trick-or-treating while he was stuck inside.

"Oh, I don't know, Harry. That would probably cause a bit of trouble for your godfather."

"He won't mind. Paddy!" Harry called, running down the front walk and grabbing at Sirius's hand. "Paddy, Marny's mummy can't go, so she can't trick-or-treat. She can come with us, can't she? Please?"

"Of course." Sirius nodded, smiling and heading up the front walk. "We'd be more than happy to have Marny come along with us, Diane. We'll probably be out here for a couple of hours at the most anyway."

"You've already got so many children to look after… I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"It's absolutely no problem. We have seven adults. One more kid won't hurt."

"I have five brothers and a sister and my mum watches all of use just fine on her own. She's with us." Percy added quite proudly. Diane sighed, eyeing them all before nodding.

"Let me get her."

"I heard, Mummy." Marny appeared from behind her mother, no costume, just her jammies. She beamed brightly, looking excited. "But I hasn't got a costume… is that ok?" Sirius frowned, looking her up and down.

"Have you a robe, a baby doll, and some string?" He asked after a moment. Marny nodded. "Go get them, I've got an idea. The rest of you lot go on. We'll be along in a moment."

"Alright, come on." Percy waved for the younger children to follow him. Harry paused, but then followed. They went along to the next house, getting more candy, and were just leaving when Sirius came, Marny running along in front of him holding a pillow case. She wore a robe over her pajamas, her hair messily clipped on top of her head with a giant banana clip. Someone had put black smudges under her eyes, making her look tired… but the absolute best bit were the baby dolls tied to the front of her legs while she cradled a third.

"I'm a mommy." Marny announced to the laughter of grown-ups.

"She looks like me after I had Ron." Molly remarked fondly, bending down to tighten one of the dollies from falling off of Marny's leg. "Fred and George were so jealous back then, I almost had to tie them into their high chairs during feeding time just so they wouldn't keep hitting Ronnie and telling him to go back to the hospital."

"Yeah Ronnie, go back to the hospital." George ponked Ronnie on the head with his pillowcase.

"George, don't hit your brother."

"I'm Fred."

"Well, Fred then. Don't hit your brother."

"My mummy's tired alllll the time, cause she hasta look after Nathan." Marny nodded to herself with a frown. "He's my baby brother, and he cries a lot. I don't like him."

"Aw, why not?" Tricia asked curiously, only having one child of her own and not really knowing the whole unspoken sibling rivalries.

"Cause he's loud and smells bad." Marny wrinkled her nose.

"Well, babies do that sometimes, yes, but he'll grow out of it soon enough." Sirius stated, ruffling the top of Harry's head. "We were all babies at one time or another, and we all smelt bad and cried loudly. But we're ok now aren't we?"

"Yeah." Marny nodded in agreement, reaching out and taking Harry's free hand in her own and trailing after him. She was looking quite inquiringly at the other kids, having not seen them around before. "Harry, are these your cousins or something'?"

"No. My cousin is Dudley, but I dun see him anymore. These are my friends. Ronnie and 'mione are my favorite, but 'mione isn't here. And Ginny and Luna-sissy are my second favorites. And then Fred and George and Percy and Bill and Charlie are Ronnie's brothers, but Bill and Charlie are at school 'cause they're big."

"But, I thought I was your favorite friend?"

"Yeah, you're my favorite school friend. Ronnie and 'mione dun go to our school. Cause 'mione lives by London and Ronnie's mummy teaches him stuff."

"Oh! My sister wants to do that, 'cept our Mummy doesn't have time to teach her her schooling. She wants to go away to school too, but Mummy says she can't cause she needs her at home to help with me and Nathan. Where does Ronnie live?"

"Outside town, like me." Harry looked a little confused. He thought everyone knew that. It seemed like ages since he'd met Ronnie, and though he had yet to go to the Burrow, he knew that it wasn't too far from his own house. Just up the hill and through the orchard, Sirius said. He'd also said that when Harry was older, he and Ronnie could walk to one another's houses by themselves. Harry was looking forward to this a lot because he did wish he could see Ronnie more often.

"Hurry up you two!" Percy called, waiting at the bottom of the next lighted house's walk. They ran to catch up and all of the kids hurried up the walk, wanting more candy, but, surprisingly, the door to the house was already open.

"Come in, if you daaaaaaare!" A creepy voice stated from the shadows. The kids panicked a little bit, but George grinned, shouting.

"It's a haunted house! Awesome!" He and Fred raced up the steps and inside.

Not wanting a gaggle of kids going into a strangers home by themselves, Sirius volunteered himself to go with them, as did Lexie. They joined the kids on the stoop. "Do you lot want to go through? It could be a lot of fun."

"Yeah!" Harry cheered, but then reached up for Sirius's hand. He was a brave boy, but he always felt better with his Padfoot there to help sort of make the scary stuff seem a lot less scary. It helped him be even more brave.

"We goin' in." Ginny nodded, taking Ronnie's hand, and after a moment, Ronnie reached up to take Lexie's. Luna looked indecisive for a moment, but then, to quite a few people's surprise, took Percy's hand. He was a big eight to her little three after all. Surely he wasn't scared of any old haunted house. Percy looked down at her and put on a brave face.

"Right then. Off we go." He marched forward, and into the dark house they went.

"Eugh…" Ronnie shuddered.

The whole first room was covered in cobwebs and spiders of all sorts of sizes. A dim light shone purple all around, making the webs glisten and the spiders gleam menacingly. Spooky music, filled with moans of ghosts and the strange rat-a-tat-tat chinking of chains played from somewhere. Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and he shuddered a little bit, moving closer to Padfoot. This WAS scary.

As they move forward to the center of the room, a great, hairy, slimy, giant spider came flying down from the roof! Ronnie screamed bloody murder, ducking his head and nearly dragging Lexie and Ginny into the next room with a rush of adrenaline. He did NOT like spiders at all. Not since last year when Fred had turned his beloved Sir Wugglesworth into a spider.

Keeping up with them, the other followed and they all found themselves in a kitchen with some sort of red liquid on the walls that Sirius suspected was mostly created by the glowing red light of the room. There were bowls on the counter.

"Stick your hands in, feel what we have for you." A disembodied voice floated into the room.

"Who wants to go first?" Lexie asked, biting her lip as she looked down at the bowls. She could see their contents, but the kids couldn't because of their height.

"Me! Me! Me!" Ginny raised her hand and Lexie hoisted her a little.

"Don't peek and stick your hand right on in, Ginny." Ginny did as she was told and let out a shriek as her hand hit the bowl.

"Brains of the last child who dared come through!" The disembodied voice cackled. Ginny screamed again and withdrew her hand, looking revolted. Harry went next, shoving his hand into the second bowl. "Eyeballs! Lots and lots of eeeeeyeballllls!"

Harry yelped and took out his hand quickly, looking quite startled. Great, wet, round things had encased his hand. Ooooh, those had to be eyeballs for sure! It was delightfully gross! He shoved his hand in again, wiggling it around, laughing. "Ewwwww!"

Each child took a turn then, getting their hands in the brains and eyeballs and the last bowl, which turned out to be worms that had Luna laughing so hard she put both hands in and squirmed them around. "Worrrrmy worms! Ew ew ew!" She took her hands out and Xeno set her down, chuckling to himself.

They continued on, down a long hallway with many doors. A mummy jumped from an open one, causing everyone to scream. Luna wrapped herself around her father's leg while Ginny marched forward and stared straight up at the mummy. She cross her arms over her little chest, glaring up at it. "That was not very nice."

The mummy started quivering and covering its mouth, retreated back into his hiding spot. Harry thought he heard someone laughing, but he was not sure who it was. Everyone around him wasn't, well maybe the couple of the adults.

"Oh Ginny, you'll be a Gryffindor yet." Arthur scooped up his daughter and she laughed, beaming at him like it was the best compliment ever.

They carried on, getting through the hallway without much else jumping out at them and into a large sitting room where a grizzled old lady sat hunched in her rocking chair. She beckoned them forward with one crooked, warty finger. "Come and get some candy if you daaaaareeee."

Harry took Ginny's hand and then Marny's and marched forward, his head held high. He wasn't going to let some creepy lady keep them away from getting what they'd come for. Not after all they'd gone through to get to this part of the house.

He thrust one hand into the bowl, letting go of Marny to do so and dropped a piece of candy into his bucket. He then did the same for Marny who screamed as the lady leaned towards them and looked like she was ready to run back to the adults.

"I'm not scarededs." Ginny announced, taking candy as well for her pillow case and beaming at Harry when he nodded.

"Me neither."

"Yeah!" Ronnie ran forward and took his piece of candy. If Ginny could do it, then he definitely could. Percy followed, knowing it'dd look ad if he played chicken now. Luna went with him.

Smiling the little old creepy lady waved them towards a door covered in a black sheet. They left, saying their thank yous even though she was very scary. Outside in the cool night air, the group found themselves safely on a sidewalk beside the haunted house. Fred and George were waiting for them, both laughing and looking excited.

"How cool was that?" Fred asked, delighted by the haunted house.

"Cool." Harry nodded in agreement. Now that he was back out in the safe night instead of being inside the haunted house, he was feeling even braver than he had. He clung to Remus's hand now, glad of something to clutch after that.

"You were very very brave in there Harry." Remus commented, giving Harry's small hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm very proud of you."

"It was pretty scary, Moony." Harry admitted after a moment, once he'd been sure that no one was listening but Moony.

"But you did it and that makes all the difference. Sometimes we have to face our fears to get what we want. Understand?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded, beaming brightly at that. He had been pretty brave, hadn't he? It made him feel quite proud of himself, a feeling he'd been having a lot more of ever since he'd started living with Padfoot and Moony instead of with those awful Dursleys. "Will I be a Gryffindor too?"

"It's highly possible." Moony laughed, ruffling his hair. "C'mon now. There's lots more candy waiting for you."

* * *

Sorry it's taking me so long to update. I know there are those of you who really like this story and probably find my lack of updating annoying. But I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive my awfulness. This chapter isn't up to par either, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! Please let me know what you thought.

Hugs and butterfly kisses,

S.Q.O.


	21. Babysitting

Disclaimer:...we should all know the drill by now.

* * *

**His Boy**

**_Chapter 21: Babysitting_**

"Leeeeeeeeeeeexiiiiiiie!" Harry called, running from his bedroom to the top of the stairs and peering down at Lexie who poked her head around the corner of the living room door to look up at him. She blinked, staring up at the four year old who was currently covered from head to toe in paint. She started up the stairs quickly.

"Did you have an accident, Harry?" She had left him alone for one minute to go get a cup of water so he could wash his paint brush in-between colors. One minute… and somehow he had managed to get completely covered in every single paint color they had gotten out.

"Yeah." Harry nodded and led her into his bedroom where his little table for art projects was. All of the paint jars were on the floor, the carpet covered in non-toxic, washable gobs of gooey paint. "I dropped my brush and I was getting it. And then I hit the table." He rubbed at his little head, wincing and looking worried. But it had been an accident. Sirius had instilled it in him that accidents were ok and he wasn't going to get in trouble for them if he asked for help.

"Oh my!" Lexie blinked, staring at the rainbow of colors on the carpet. She waved her wand, siphoning it out of the carpet and pouring it back into the little jars, unable to unmix the colors properly. "It looks like you won't e able to paint anymore, bucko, at least not until we get you some new paints or Sirius and Remus get back."

"But…" Harry looked longingly down at his paints, quite devastated. He had been looking forward to making a really good picture this time. He hadn't even gotten the chance to start because Lexie had been getting the water. He felt his eyes welling with tears and he sniffled, picking up one of the jars and peering inside. It was supposed to e blue, but instead, it was all a mishmash of gunk. "Can't you change it back?"

"I'm sorry Harry. I'm no wiz at Transfiguration, unfortunetly. Neither was your mum, the concepts were a bit over our heads. But how about we get you in the tub, ok? I'm sure Sirius can fix it all up once he gets back in the morning."

"Could my Daddy have fixed it?" Harry asked curiously as Lexie helped him strip off his painty clothes before they headed into the bathroom. She put his clothes in the sink and turned on the water in the tub. She let it get warm before she plugged it and then poured a copious amount of magical rainbow bubbles into it. She also dropped a color tablet into the water to make it change to blue and then helped Harry climb into the tub.

"Yes. He was the very best at Transfiguration in our entire class. He was so very good he could change into a stag, like Padfoot can change into a dog. Your daddy helped him learn how."

"So my Daddy was good at transfigurations and my Mummy was bad at it." Harry nodded, glad for this new information. Padfoot and Moony tried to give him little tidbits every day to help him get to know his parents, even though they were no longer around. Lexie was wonderful for helping with giving him bits of Lily, as she'd known her better than either of them had.

"That's right." Lexie smiled and turned the cold water on in the sink to rinse the paint off of Harry's clothes before she tossed them into the hamper.

"I dun get baths a night."Harry pondered curiously, splashing about in the water and making his boat sink by pressing it down beneath the surface. "Paddy and Moony always give me my bath in the morning after breakfasts."

"I know." Lexie grabbed up the shampoo and squirted some into her hand. It was the good kind, special for little wizards and witches. It didn't irritate one's eyes and it foamed up really awesomely whilst changing colors. It made Harry want to have his hair washed. She got his hair wet with one hand and then began scrubbing. "My mother used to wash my hair when I was little, and she'd always tell me how much hair I had. She'd say 'Lexie, you have more hair than a hippogriff has feathers.' And do you know how many feathers a hippogriff has?"

"No, how many?" Harry asked, tilting his head back as Lexie rinsed the soap from his hair.

"Enough to cover the front half of a horse."

"Woooow!" Harry stared up at her in shock. "That's a lot of feathers."

"It sure is." Lexie grabbed up a wash cloth and helped Harry get the pain off of his skin before moving to sit on the toilet and letting him play for a little bit. He seemed to quite like playing in the water, his ships floating around him, his duckie keeping them in line while he made storms with the water and land with the bubbles.

After bath time, Lexie helped Harry into his lion pajamas and they went down into the kitchen to have dinner. She felt it would be pushing it to put him back into day clothes when he'd be going to bed soon anyway. "So let's see… want some spaghetti?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, jumping up and down. He liked spaghetti, especially when Lexie made it. Her's was always the best spaghetti because she always made meat balls to go with it. "Can I help?"

"Sure ya can." Lexie nodded, turned on the oven to preheat, and got the meatball mix she had made at her house earlier out of the fridge. She placed the bowl on the counter and then pulled a chair over for Harry. He climbed up onto it, watching excitedly. "Now this is the fun part. Here." She handed Harry a bit of the mixture. "You know how you like to play with your play-dough? It's just like that, only you've got to be gentle, don't push it too much together. Just like this." And she rolled the mixture between her hands until it formed a nice little ball.

"Oooo!" Harry grinned. This was definitely something he could do! He was always making balls out of his playdough. He rolled it just the way Lexie had showed him, making a small meatball.

"Good job, Harry! That looked great! Now you hold onto these." She handed him her meat ball and bent down to get the pan from the cupboard. She washed her hands really quick and then greased down the pan before setting it on the counter. "We'll put them in here so we can cook them after."

"Ok." Harry placed the meat balls down into the pan and then held his hands up for more. Lexie gave him more mix and he began rolling again. They rolled until they had a bunch of meat balls and no mix left in the bowl. The pan was nice and full. "Now we cook em?"

"Yep, but first we need to wash our hands cause we don't want to get raw meat on anything else."

"Why?" Harry asked as she turned on the water and he held his hands under it, scrubbing as she poured some soap onto them.

"Because if you eat meat that isn't cooked, you could get sick." Lexie scrubbed her hands clean as well and then, using a pair of over mitts, put the pan in the oven to cook. "Ok, now we need to make the spaghetti."

"I know this part!" Harry climbed down off of his chair and tugged open the pots and pans cupboard. He pulled out the pot Sirius used to make noodles in and held it up like a prize.

"That's exactly right, Harry!" Lexie beamed, taking the pan from him and filling it halfway up with water. "Can you get me the second one just like this for the sauce?"

"Ok." Harry nodded and tugged out the second pot they had that looked just like the first one. He set it on the stovetop, the oven separately in the wall next to it as opposed to below it. "Like this?"

"Yep!" Lexie put the water pot on the stove and turned on the heat. "Now we need this to boil, and while we wait for it to do that, we can heat up the sauce."

"I'll get it!" Harry ran to the fridge where he knew the pasta sauce was. Lexie had made that at her house too. He pulled out the big glass jar and, holding it above his head, carried it over to her proudly.

"Wow, you're such a good helper, Harry!" Lexie praised him, patting his head as she took the jar and opened it. She poured half the contents into the second pot and then turned on the burner. She could have used her wand for half of this, but she knew Harry liked to help. It was more fun for him if they cooked the Muggle way. "Now this is the really hot part and I don't want you to get burned."

"I know." Harry nodded and moved to sit at the kitchen table like he did sometimes when Moony or Paddy was cooking. He knew not to touch the oven or the stove when they were on, and Moony had taught him to keep to the table so that he wouldn't get underfoot. He had his coloring books and crayons there in the center and he tugged them towards himself, not wanting to leave the kitchen, but not wanting to be bored either. "How long does it take?"

"Not too long." Lexie said, stirring the sauce with a wooden spoon. "Once the water is boiling we can put the noodles in to cook. And by the time those are done, the meat balls will be ready too."

"Yay!" Harry grinned and began coloring a train in his book. He liked trains.

"Do you want to help me pour in the spaghetti?" Lexie asked, pulling out the box as the water began to boil.

"Yeah!" Harry nodded and climbed down out of his chair excitedly. Lexie slide an oven mitt on over each of his arms, they reached right up over his elbows. Harry took the box of noodles.

"Ok, now, you're going to dump it all right in ok? Really quickly." Lexie hoisted him up and held onto him tightly, making sure he was the right height above the pot to get the noodles in without splashing, but also so he wouldn't get burnt. And if it did splash, well, that's what the gloves were for. Harry turned the box upside down over the pot and watched as the noodles fell into it. He laughed and Lexie set him down, away from the stove.

"Good job, Harry! You poured that perfectly. Now then, you color some more, and I bet, by the time you finish your picture, this will be all done."

"Ok." Harry went back to the table and took off the mitts.

About ten minutes later, Lexie set his plate in front of him, spaghetti cut up into manageable pieces, covered in sauce, cheese, and meatballs that Harry was proud to have helped shape. He dug in with relish, glad that Lexie was here tonight because it meant delicious spaghetti.

"We did a good job, didn't we Harry?"

"Mhm!" Harry nodded through a mouthful of noodles. "It's really good."

"That's because you helped me. Things always taste better when you put love into them."

"You can put love in food?"

"Yep. When you make it for someone or with someone you love, it always tastes better, because you shared it with someone." Lexie smiled, reaching over and ruffling his hair. They spent the rest of the meal nomming away and giggling about how good it was.

Once his plate was clean, Harry put it in the sink like he'd been taught to and Lexie cleared up the rest of the table. She poured the remaining sauce back into the sauce jar, put the rest of the meat balls and spaghetti into separate Tupperware boxes, and then all of it went into the fridge. She and Harry washed the dishes together and then she carried him upstairs to his room for a bedtime story.

"Now, which book do you think we should read tonight, Harry?"

"This one." Harry said, tugging out one of the photo albums he and his guardians had been filling. This one was full of photos from the summer. Lexie laughed and sat down next to him, flipping it open. Harry liked looking at pictures as much as he liked looking at regular story books.

"Look, here we are at the zoo, do you remember that?"

"Yeah. We saw lions and snakes and lots of other stuff." Harry nodded, happily, snuggling down under his covers. Lexie wrapped an arm around him and they leaned up against his pillows, looking at the pictures. "And that's when we went to the beach and that's Ronnie and 'mione's sand castle."

"And how about this one? Do you remember this one?" Lexie asked pointing to another.

"Yeah, that's…" Harry paused, cut off by a wailing howl that came from outdoors. He shivered and, though it scared him, he slid out of bed and peeked out of his window. Lexie followed him, standing behind him. Outside was dark and covered with the light dusting of snow that came in early December. Big flakes were still falling from the sky, easy to see from the light that shone outwards from the kitchen windows below Harry's room. He pressed his face against the window, peering out as hard as he could. "There's something there… Do you see it? Over there…" And he pointed, far to where the white snow met the horizon of the dark night sky, quite a ways beyond the backyard fence.

"Yeah. But it's all right Harry. We're safe. It's not going to come anywhere near here." Lexie nodded, knowing for a fact that the howl they had heard was that of Remus, probably from the pain of just changing. It was about that time of night, when the full moon took effect.

The reinforced shed had been moved further away from the house and then spells had been placed around it, a half mile diameter of a circle where Remus could run with Sirius, to keep the werewolf safely tucked away from any and all people. Hagrid typically dropped off a some large dead animal for Remus to sink his teeth into when the desire arrived. Dumbledore also said there was hope for something better… a potion that was in the process of being developed to battle the darker side of all werewolves and leave them at least docile during their time of the month. Healers at St. Mungos were getting closer and closer to having it work. And once it was, Dumbledore said he'd be more than willing to get the school's current Potion Master to make it for Remus, in order to help make the world easier for him and to help protect Harry even better.

Remus howled loudly again and Harry covered his ears, not liking how the creature sounded. It was so… sad but scary at the same time. "Lexie?"

"Yeah, Harry?"

"Will you stay with me tonight 'stead of the guest room?" Harry asked, turning around to look up at her pleadingly. He didn't know why, but he always heard the howls whenever Lexie came to stay the night. Normally they woke him up when he'd already been asleep and he thought it was a dream, but tonight, they were occurring earlier than normal, due to the daylight hours shortening.

"Sure, Harry." Lexie nodded and picked him up, flopping him back down onto his bed and tugging the covers up around him. "Let me just get my jammies on ok?"

"Ok." Harry nodded, hugging his lion tightly, not liking the idea of being left alone while there was howling. Lexie hurriedly left the room and went to changed into the pajamas she had brought with her. She returned in a few minutes, teeth brushed, ready for bed. She climbed into Harry's bed beside him, letting him stay on the out edge so he could still see his music box once it had been cranked and set open. Harry pressed himself up against her beneath the covers, his small face against her neck. She stroked his hair, shushing his shudders as the werewolf howled again.

"I don't like when it does that." Harry said after a moment.

"Why not?"

"Because… it sounds really sad."

"I think maybe he is sad, Harry."

"Why?"

"Well, because most werewolves are sad when they turn into wolves. They don't like it because they'd rather stay human."

"It's a werewolf making those noises?" Harry shot up straight in shock, his green eyes wide.

"Yeah, but don't you worry about that. Werewolves aren't all bad like they are in stories. It's not their fault they're werewolves. You don't have anything to worry about, bucko. That werewolf isn't going to come and hurt anyone. We're safe here, and he's safe there."

"How do you know?"

"I just do." Lexie said after a moment's deliberation. Harry had not yet been told Moony was a werewolf. Sirius had figured they better get Harry thinking better about them before they did that, and Lexie had agreed to help in any way she could. "There are lots of magical creatures that people think are mean that aren't. Like vampires and goblins."

"Really?"

"Mhm. I've met a vampire. They're actually really nice. They don't go around sucking people's blood so much anymore. They get their blood from a blood bank at the Ministry, and goblins, well, you know how Muggles have a bank where they keep all of their money?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. He had been to the bank lots of times with Aunt Petunia when she had had to take him and Dudley along on their way home from school.

"Well, wizards have a bank too, called Gringotts. And goblins run it."

"Really!" Harry asked surprised. "There are goblins at the wizard bank?"

"Yep. Lots and lots of goblins. They're not bad. You just have to treat them respectfully. Now I think, it's time for sleep." Lexie waved her wand, turning out the light and reached over Harry to open his music box. She kissed the little boy's head and snuggled him. "Good night, I love ya, bucko."

"I love you too, Lexie." Harry smiled, snuggling down comfortably. He really liked it when Lexie came to stay, even if it meant missing his Paddy and Moony. Lexie was always fun. She would play games with him, and give him plenty of snuggles and kisses, just like Padfoot and Moony did when they were here. And she always told excellent Mummy stories and cooked really yummy food and sometimes she would bring a present with her, whether it be an old picture she had unearthed of Lily, or a small toy she thought Harry might like. Today she'd brought him a red metal kazoo that he'd spent most of the afternoon playing with until she had suggested painting instead for a while. The kazoo was now sitting safely on his night stand, a string tied to one end of it so it could hang from around his neck. He'd probably play with it again tomorrow, but had forgotten about it for the time being.

….

Sure enough, the next morning after Harry had eaten and gotten dressed (they skipped the bath due to last night's paint mishap triggered bath), he found his kazoo, pulled the string on over his neck and went around the house tooting away on it like it was the greatest thing ever. It was a really fun toy and he couldn't wait to show his Padfoot and his Moony and tell them all about the fun he'd had with his Lexie. He knew they usually came back shortly after he woke up whenever Lexie stayed over. He sat on the stairs, watching the front door anxiously, ready to see them again.

When the door opened, Harry gave a cheer, throwing his arms in the air and bouncing down the last of the steps excitedly. "Paddy! Moony!"

Sirius stumbled in the door, smiling tiredly as he caught up his godson, glad to see him. "Hey there Prongslet."

"Hey Harry." Moony smiled, looking even more tired than Sirius did. He reached out and Sirius handed Harry over. Moony gave him a very tight, very much needed hug, snuggling him and burying his face in the little boy's hair. It was always harder becoming a werewolf when he knew he was missing reading Harry his bedtime story, as had become their own personal nighttime ritual. Harry liked the way he read best and it left time for Sirius to do the dishes and still be done in time for helping to tuck him once the story was over. "Mmm, I missed you, mate."

"I missed chu too, Moony." Harry snuggled up to him, glad to be back in one of his main caregivers' arms. "Lookit! Lexie bringed me a kazoo!" Harry held it up brightly and then blew into it.

"Awesome!" Moony smiled and placed him back down on the floor. "do you think you can toot it quietly for a bit though? I need to go take a nap."

"Ok." Harry nodded and tooted his kazoo as quietly as he could. Moony was always very tired and needed a nap after he and Sirius had been gone. Harry wasn't sure why this was, but after living with them for going on five months, it had become quite normal. Sirius wasn't as tired, but he usually took a nap and was up right before lunch, so Lexie would be here until after dinner to help out still. Harry liked these days the best, when he could have all three of his very favorite grownups at the same time.

"Harry, why don't you go upstairs and get Moony and Paddy's jammies ready for them?" Lexie said as she came into the hallway.

"Ok." Harry nodded and dashed up the stairs, always ready to help out when needed. He was at that age.

"So, how'd it go?" Sirius asked, leaning against the wall with a yawn. Lexie wanted to talk about something, he could sense it. She wouldn't have sent Harry upstairs otherwise.

"We heard you howling last night." She said, sitting down on the stairs. "Harry got nervous."

"Maybe next month we should go to Hogwarts then, hang out in the Shrieking Shack…" Remus suggested, sighing and looking a bit bummed out at this. He didn't want Harry to be afraid, even though there was every single reason to be frightened. He couldn't control himself in when he changed. Sirius made it easier on him, made it easier to remember who he was, but still…

"I just hate being so far from him though. Even if it is just a night…" Sirius shook his head.

"Well, he didn't like it mostly because he said the howling sounded very sad. I told him not all werewolves are bad though. He felt sorry for you mostly, I think."

"Oh Harry." Sirius sighed, slumping down to the floor now, exhausted. "He's such a caring little boy. We should probably tell him sometime soon, if he's starting to feel more sorry for werewolves than afraid of them."

"I guess you're right… I'm just worried that he'll be scared of me afterwards though." Remus sighed, not looking too happy about the idea, but knowing that they would have to tell him eventually. He was a smart kid. He knew werewolves came out on full moon and he would notice at some point that the trend of Sirius and Remus going out every month matched every single full moon. Every thirty days was marked on a calendar in Remus's room, the knowledge of years of transforming making him known the exact minute in each particular month that he would change. The moon was always exactly halfway to being directly overhead when it happened and always halfway beyond the horizon when it ended, something that even the best wizard researchers had not been able to determine the reason for.

"Harry loves you, Remus. This werewolf thing, it's just like… being sick once a month. It's not something that can be controlled, only contained. He'll learn to understand it. If he grows up knowing what you are and also how loving you are, then… maybe he can help convince other people of the same in the future."

"You could teach like you've always wanted." Sirius suggested with a smile, standing up and clapping Remus on the back.

"I got them!" Harry called, appearing at the top of the stairs, holding up two sets of pajamas. He carried them down and handed the green ones to Remus, the blue ones to Sirius.

"Thank you very much Harry, that was wonderful of you." Sirius smiled, hugging him. "I'll see you at lunch ok?"

"Ok. Sleep good."

"I will."

"Sleep good, Moony."

"Be good for Lexie." Moony kissed the top of Harry's head and he and Sirius headed up stairs, both ready for a well deserved rest.

* * *

I really like the way this one came out. I wanted to give a bit more insight to Lexie's character than we've previously seen. Now what have we learned... oh yeah. She can cook and she's got good parenting skills. I honestly love her a lot. what do you guys think? Lemme know! I hope you liked it.

Loves!

S.Q.O.


	22. The Bug

**His Boy**

_Chapter Twenty-Two: The Bug_

"Harry, you are going to be absolutely, one hundred and fifty percent, fine." Sirius said as he peeled Harry from his leg for about the eighteenth time that morning. It was around 7:45 and Sirius was getting ready to leave for his first day back in the Auror Offices at the Ministry of Magic. He had gone in last week to see about getting his old job back, and been welcomed with open arms at the idea. In his time, he'd been one of the best on the force, pulling double duty both inside the ministry, and outside of it when he'd joined the Order of the Pheonix, of course, the ministry knew not of the latter.

"I dun want you to go, Paddy." Harry raced forward again as Sirius reached for his overcoat. He locked his arms around Sirius's thigh, gripping tightly and burying is face against his godfather's hip.

"Prongslet, I have to go to work. And you have to be getting to school soon." Sirius swung his coat on and buttoned it up the front. "Now get your boots on, Moony will be back in a moment."

"But you won't be here when I get back." Harry complained, grabbing hold of Sirius's jacket now. Sirius scooped him up and hugged him. He hated seeing Harry like this, but he needed to learn how to be a little more independent. Moony had been saying it for weeks now that Sirius should go back to work and that Harry would be fine. How else were they ever going to prepare him for going away to Hogwarts if they coddled his every whim? He would learn from experience that Sirius would come back from work.

"No, I won't. But I will be here in time for dinner and bedtime and bath time in the morning and every single weekend. You'll have plenty of fun hanging out with Moony this afternoon. Grown ups need to go to work, and little boys need to go to school."

"But… Moony can go to work instead." Harry suggested after a moment's deliberation. "Then you can stay with me."

"Harry, remind me… what is Moony the very, very best at?"

Harry pondered for a moment or two and then smiled. "That's easy. He's the best at homework and stories."

"And when do you do your homework?"

"Right after school… but you could help me instead! You're not dumb."

"No, but I'm not very good at homework am I? Harry, it's best this way. Now, I love you very much, but I really need to be going now before I'm late." Sirius sighed, setting Harry back down. Harry pouted up at him, all big green eyes and knitted eyebrows. Sirius bent down and kissed his forehead, ruffling his hair. "It'll be perfectly alright, mate. I promise. Now get your boots on."

Harry heaved a great sigh and turned around. He slid the hall closet open and pulled out his winter boots that Sirius had gotten him when the first snowflakes had started coming down weeks ago. He tugged them on over his thick woolen socks. He rose, his entire little body covered in a puffy bright red snowsuit, perfect for playing outside in. He'd had a blast learning how to make snowballs and forts over the weekend, but now, it was Monday, and Harry would be able to show his friends at school these new games out on the playground.

"Hat." Sirius said, reaching out and tugging the green knitted cap Mrs. Weasley had made for Harry down over the little boy's ears. "Mittens." Sirius held out a matching mitten. Harry stuck his hand out and let Sirius push it up over his hand and into his sleeve. He did the other one as well and then grabbed a scarf from a hook on the wall and wrapped it around the little boy's neck and lower face. "There now, snug as a bug."

"Yep, snug as a bug." Harry nodded and struggled with his backpack. It was always harder to get on when he was wearing his snowsuit. He managed to pull both straps over his arms as the front door flung open and Moony came inside, stomping the snow off of his boots.

"Aha! Are we ready to be off then, Harry?" He asked, reaching down to tug on of the little boy's straps all the way up onto his shoulder.

"Yep! But Moony, I dun want my Padfoot to go to work." Harry said, pointing one accusatory mitten at his godfather. "Can't you make him stay home? You make me eat my broccoli."

"Nah, Harry. Padfoot has to go to work, it's just like you having to go to school. You know how Padfoot is an Auror, right?"

"Yeah, like a police man." Harry nodded, pulling his scarf down off of his face so it hung around just his neck now. He learned a bit more about being an Auror in the past week. "He helps people be safe."

"Right! So, if Padfoot doesn't go to work, who's going to help people be safe?"

"The other Aurors." Harry said quite promptly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Of course there were other Aurors that could do the job. Why did they need his Padfoot now?

"But there aren't enough Aurors to help keep everyone safe right now, Harry." Moony explained gently, getting down on his knees and fixing the zipper on the front of the little boy's suit. "If someone needs him and he's not there to help them, then they could get really hurt."

"Oh." Harry frowned, seeming to think this over before sighing. "He hasta go then, dun he?"

"Yeah, he does. But he'll be back and I'll be here. C'mon now, let's get you in the car and off to school. We're going to be late otherwise."

"Ok. Paddy?"

Sirius reached out to give Harry another hug. "Yes, Prongslet?"

"You keep people safe really good, ok?"

"Ok, Prongslet." Sirius laughed and ruffled his hair again before rising to his feet. "Later Moony." And with that, he spun in a circle and disapparated with a crack. Moony reached down and took Harry's hand, leading him out into the snowy world.

…..

Harry was not having fun. He'd been having fun, but now everything was just wrong. He'd gotten to school. Moony had helped him get his things put away and put his snowsuit onto his jacket hook. They'd had circle time, and a story and snack time, but it was then, after he'd finished eating his crackers, that Harry's stomach had twisted and he'd felt this undesirable urge to puke. It had started as a headache, and then his throat getting a bit sore and those he could handle. But not his stomach.

"Miss Nancy, I dun feel good." Harry tugged at her skirt as she held out a mitten for Preston, one of Harry's table mates. It was a bit more difficult for the teachers to get everyone ready to go outside onto the playground in the winter, but they managed it by cutting the last half hour of indoor playtime in half.

Miss Nancy got Preston's mitten on and then reached out to place one of her cool hands against Harry's forehead. She had a lot of experience in her years of child care to know what a fever felt like with just her bare hand. "Oh my Harry…" She placed both hand against his flushed little cheeks and then one on his neck. "You're burning up, sweetheart. Here, you come with me. Miss Carrie, can you finish helping Preston with his boots? Harry's ill."

Miss Carrie nodded and hurried over from where she was shepherding children along out the back door and onto the playground where Miss Jennifer was watching them.

Miss Nancy led Harry over to lay down in the reading pillow corner, getting him settled with a blanket. She tugged open the cleaning closet and set the mop bucket beside him. "I'm going to call your house ok? And then I bet Remus will be along to pick you up before you know it. If you need to throw up, aim for the bucket, ok? But don't worry if you miss." She rose and keeping an eye on him, went to her desk. Harry watched as she flipped through some cards that sat in a little tray there before finding the one she wanted. She picked up the telephone and dialed.

"Hi Remus, this is Miss Nancy… well, he's feverish and is looking quite a bit off color, so I think it would be best if he went home for the rest of the day. I've got him resting now…. Oh, alright…. Yes… thank you, see you soon." And she hung up the phone before returning to sit by Harry. She placed a tender hand on his back, rubbing in circles. "Remus is on his way to get you, Harry. Does your tummy hurt?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded and then sat up quite suddenly. He grabbed hold of the edges of the mop bucket and retched into it like there was no tomorrow. Miss Nancy continued rubbing his back until he had finished, and then she got up to wet a cloth and helped him wipe his mouth clean.

"Lay back down now, Harry. I'll get your things so you're all set to go as soon as Remus gets here." Harry nodded and watched as Miss Nancy went to the cubbie area. She gathered his backpack and lunch box as well as his snow suit and carried them over to him. "Here we are now then, dear. Let's get you dressed. He said he'd be here within ten minutes, you don't live too far away."

Harry sat up long enough to get his suit on, mostly just holding out his limbs so Miss Nancy could help him with it, before he flopped back down. Something fuzzy touched his face after a moment and he opened his eyes to find his beloved lion had been taken from his bag. He hugged it, smiling slightly and then buried his face in Lion's fur. That was a little better.

"Harry?" Harry opened his eyes again as Moony lifted him from the pillows, hugging him and adjusting him onto his hip. "Hey there. I hear you're not feeling so hot."

"No, Moony, I feel super hot." Harry let his head rest down on Moony's shoulder, gripping his coat tightly, glad he was there.

"Here we are then, Harry." Miss Nancy arranged his boots on the floor and Remus set Harry down into them before hoisting him back up and accepting the little boy's back pack from her. Harry still gripped his lion tightly. "There's a bug going around unfortunately. It seems to be a longer one as well. We're still missing a couple of children who caught it at the end of last week."

"Oh, that's not good. I hope it'll pass more quickly than that, right Harry?"

"Mhm." Harry managed a nod, not up for much talking. He just wanted to rest.

"Alright, well, thank you Miss Nancy. Hopefully we'll be seeing you really soon."

"Yes, I hope so." Miss Nancy nodded and picked up Harry's puke bucket. "Wait a moment." She rinsed the bucket out in the sink and then handed it to Remus. "Here, you might need this for the car ride. I've got four more stocked up. It is flu season after all."

Remus laughed and took the bucket, saluting her. "Thanks. We'll get it back to you, clean and sanitized."

"Bye bye Harry, I hope you feel better soon."

"Bye Miss Nancy." Harry garbled out and kept slumped on Remus's shoulder.

Harry puked again before they even made it out of the school lot. Remus made a mental note to bring Miss Nancy some flowers and maybe a couple of new buckets as he listened to his poor little mate feel so awful. He drove as quickly as he could through the snow, not wanting Harry to have to endure the bumpiness of the car any longer than was absolutely necessary.

When they got to the house, Remus hoisted the little boy out of his car seat, grabbed his lion and the bucket and carried him inside. He didn't even bother stomping the snow off of his boots as he carried Harry up the stairs to his very red bedroom. Boots and snowsuit were shed, jammies were put on, and a certain four year old was tucked tightly beneath his covers, lion on one side, dragon on the other.

Remus heaved a sigh of relief for a brief moment, glad of all things, that he'd had the foresight to get a phone installed in the kitchen rather than solely rely on Floo and owls. With Harry going to a Muggle school, something was bound to happen sooner or later and he or Sirius would need to be there. This was precisely one of those times.

Having gotten Harry safely tucked into his bed, Remus rinsed out the bucket in the bathroom and brought it back into Harry's bedroom, just in case. He placed a cool cloth on Harry's forehead as well, watching as his little chest heaved up and down, having fallen asleep shortly after his head had hit the pillow. Pondering on what to do next, Remus went back into the bathroom and looked through the medicine cabinet. They had potions for just about everything, the only problem was he wasn't sure as to what the correct dosage would be to give to a child of Harry's age. He checked the bottles, but all of the information was for ages six and up. Why was that always the case? Of course… there was another alternative to his dilemma…

"Lexie?"

"Remus?" Lexie blinked, tilting her head down to peek into the fireplace in her office at St. Mungo's. Remus's head had appeared out of practically nowhere. Well… technically…. "What's up? I was just about to go find some lunch."

"I'm glad I caught you. Harry's got some kind of bug and I could use some help. I'll make you a sandwich… with bacon."

"You don't need to bribe me, Remus." Lexie laughed and opened a desk drawer. "I'll be there in a moment , let me just grab a couple of things."

"I owe you." Remus jumped, his head hitting the top of the fireplace as Lexie apparated directly into the living room behind him.

"Yeah yeah, just put extra bacon on that sandwich. Now, let's go see this patient." Lexie headed right on up the stairs and into Harry's bedroom. She frowned as she sat down on the foot of the bed and held out her wand. She waved it over Harry's body. "A hundred and two. Have you given him anything yet?"

"No, we only just got home from the school. I checked the bottles, but they haven't got anything for a child under six written on them." Remus called from the bathroom. He came in, carrying all of the bottles. "I was going to bring him into the hospital if you weren't there."

"How many times have I written to that damn apothecary?" Lexie groaned and sorted through the bottles as Remus set them down on the bedside table, putting them in order. "What are his other symptoms?"

"An upset stomach. And he said something about his head and throat on the way to the car. His teacher said there was some kind of bug going around."

"Oh, so that's what he's got." Lexie nodded and grabbed up a purple bottle. "Yeah, we've been seeing it coming through the hospital lately. It's one of those really crappy Muggle illnesses that are treatable, but also have to just run their course. We give him a tablespoon of this every six hours or so, but I give it at least three days before he's up and about. It's a pretty tame bug as far as symptoms go, but it's got the lifespan of an elephant. We'll also be wanting this." She dug into the pocket of her robes and pulled out a bottle of very pink liquid.

"Isn't that Muggle-made?"

"Yeah, but this stuff's amazing." Lexie said after a moment, swirling the bottle around to mix it up a bit. "You have to hand it to the Muggles sometimes, I suppose. It doesn't work quite as well as a potion for the same things would, but it usually does the job and tastes a lot better. Harry will be thanking you to chase this..." She held up the purple bottle. "…with this." She indicated the pink one. "As the purple one tastes about as foul as a troll's gym socks and the Muggle stuff is chalky, but peppermint."

Remus smiled, taking the bottles from her and setting them down on the bedside table, ready for usage. "Thanks for coming."

"No sweat. I can watch Harry for now. You just get started on that sandwich." Lexie grinned at him and Remus grabbed up the extra potion bottles so he could put them away.

"With extra bacon?"

"Extra bacon."

….

"Why in bloody hell, didn't you Floo me or send me an owl at least?" Sirius whispered angrily at Remus once he'd gotten home and found Harry sick in bed. "I should have been here." He raged, his heart aching with the knowledge that his Harry wasn't feeling well and had probably needed him. He had probably felt the illness coming on and that was why he hadn't wanted Sirius to leave that morning, not just because he was being clingy.

"Because you know as well as I do, that if I'd had told you you would have come flying straight back home and missed your first day of which. Everything was taken care of properly and he's doing fine. I called Lexie and she's upstairs making shadow puppets for him right now." Remus shot back. "We didn't want you missing your first day of work over something as simple as a non-life threatening bug.

"Still, I should know when he's sick, I am his godfather!" Sirius said after a moment of fuming. "Has he asked for me at all?"

"Except you needed to stay at work today. It would have looked bad if you'd come home halfway through just being back there. He's been a bit busy sleeping to do that. I got him back and he passed right out for an hour or so before he woke up and had to puke again. Lexie got some medicine into him and then he conked right back out. He's only been awake for about ten minutes. I was going to make some chicken broth." Remus shook his head. "You'd do well to remember that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of Harry for one day on my own."

"I'm sorry, Moony." Sirius sighed. "I didn't mean to snap at you, I'm just worried is all."

"Well, then quite hanging out here and go see him." Remus patted his back and headed back down the stairs to the kitchen to get started on that broth.

"Hey Prongslet." Sirius peeked into Harry's bedroom and entered when he saw Harry sitting up against his pillows, awake but tired looking. Lexie was sitting in one of Harry's tiny chairs, her hands moving before the light of her wand which was set on the table so that it blasted onto a wall. "How ya feeling?"

"I frowed up, Paddy." Harry stated clearly and then lifted his arms to Sirius.

"So I heard." Sirius grabbed him up, hugging him tightly to him and rocking him slightly as he sat down on the bed. Harry rested his head down on his chest, hugging his lion as well.

"He's got that bug that's been going around, probably caught it at school." Lexie said, rising from the chair and stretching. She was still in her Healer robes, having checked in at work for another hour or so before returning to tend to Harry. The other Healers would be fine without her. It wasn't like she was the head of their department or anything, besides, Harry needed her more than the old guy who had managed to get an orange stuck in his ear.

"So, what's the accidental magic ward going to do without you?" Sirius asked after a moment of snuggling Harry.

"Meh, it's the off season as far as accidental magic goes. We'll see an uprise next week around Christmas, but for now, well… I'd rather be here. Otherwise all I'm doing is loads of unnecessary paperwork."

"So, I take it it's been another denial of your wanting to switch to the Children's Department then?"

"Apparently they want at least two years of previous work with children before they let you in there. Of course, it could be the entire ward is biased because it's made up of parents who think people without kids have absolutely no idea how to take care of them properly mentally as well as physically."

"You take care of me good." Harry stated as though offended . He crossed his little arms and glared at nobody. "They should let you in."

"I know, Harry, unfortunately that's not the way things work. They want me to have a kid of my own, you know, someone who calls me 'mummy'."

"I'll call you mummy. You take me to work and we'll tell them you is my mummy and then they can't say no. I dun think my real mummy would minds it." Harry suggested, smiling as though it was the best plan ever. Lexie laughed and ruffled his hair.

"I don't think she would either, but that's alright, Harry. Thank you for the offer." Lexie smiled and patter Harry's head before sitting down next to Sirius and flopping backwards on Harry's bed.

"Hey, are you ok?" Sirius blinked, and pulled out his wand to turn on the overhead light. It lit up the previously fairly dark room brightly and Sirius shifted Harry back down against his pillows. "Lexie, you look like sh-…poopy."

"I'm fine. I just didn't get much sleep last n-…" Lexie's sentence was cut off as she jerked up and foreward. She shot off of Harry's bed and ran from the room. Sirius followed and found her retching violently into the toilet bowl.

"Not much sleep, eh?" He entered the bathroom and reached down to help hold back her long hair, sitting down behind her and rubbing at her back.

Lexie wiped her mouth with some paper and then flushed the toilet. She turned around and groaned. "I should get home."

"No way. I'm not sending you off to deal with this by yourself. We'll turn the guest room into a sick bay. You and Harry can hang out there."

"Sirius, no. I need to… I mean… I couldn't…."

"Lexie, you're a very dear friend of ours. Do you really think we'd leave you alone when you're ill?" Sirius asked as he helped hoist her to her feet. She stumbled a little but then regained her balance. He helped her out into the hallway and called down the stairs. "Moony, make it two bowls of broth! Lexie's caught the bug."

"On it! Don't let her leave!" Moony called back from the kitchen. Sirius helped Lexie up the stairs to the third floor where Remus's room, the third bathroom, and the guest room with its own bathroom were. Lexie leaned on him, unhappy that she'd been hit with the bug. She'd been around it for days now at the hospital, but it had finally gotten into her system and when it hit, it hit all of a sudden.

"Here we go, Lex." Sirius set her gently on the bed. The room was nice, sage green and soft rose, the walls bordered with rose vines at the top, the bedspread on the queen bed satiny and green. Knowing that it was Lexie who'd be staying over with Harry on a monthly basis, Remus had suggested they make the bedroom a tiny bit more feminine, and thus, the roses had been added.

"I'm fine, warden." Lexie said after a moment, laying back against the pillows. She grinned at him and Sirius laughed, tugging the covers up over her.

"I'll get another bucket in case you can't make it to the bathroom and then I'll bring you your cell mate."

"Aye aye." Lexie saluted him and then closed her eyes. Sirius made his way down to the first floor where the cleaning cupboard was. He grabbed up the mop bucket and carried it up to the second floor where he retrieved Harry's currently empty bucket and Harry himself.

"Harry, you're going to stay up here with Lexie, alright?" Sirius hugged the boy to his hip and Harry nodded, still feeling like absolute crap.

"My lion?"

"I'll get your lion in a minute. I'll bring you a bunch of books and some crayons and things for you to play with, alright?" Sirius entered the guest bedroom and rested Harry down on the bed next to Lexie, tucking him in. He placed a bucket on either of the bedside tables and then went back down to gather some of Harry's things. He knew both Harry and Lexie would prefer being sick with company as opposed to being in separate rooms. Once he'd gotten Harry's favorite things, including his music box and the framed picture of his parents, along with Lexie's wand upstairs, he went down to help Remus with the broth.

"Both of them?" Remus asked as he doled out broth into two separate bowls, one adult sized and one child sized on a tray.

"Yep. Lexie wanted to go home, but I figured it would be better if she just stayed here until she feels better. Harry can barely stand, I'd hate for her to be stuck in her apartment on her own." Sirius grabbed a pitcher from the cupboard and filled it with water. He set it down on the tray and grabbed two cups from the cupboard as well. He filled these with water as well and then, as though it came to him as a second though, he grabbed two of Harry's sippy cup lids from the drawer and snapped them on top. Harry rarely needed a lid, preferring a straw, but Sirius just wanted to be on the safe side. Besides, it was easier than making either of them sit up.

Sirius carried the tray upstairs, Remus taking the pitcher so it wasn't overly heavy, and together they entered their own little sick bay. "We come baring liquids."

"Yay." Lexie groaned, pushing herself up a bit more. Harry was snuggled up to her side, looking quite content with his bed buddy.

"Careful, it's a bit hot." Sirius warned as he rested the tray on the bed and then quickly thought better of it as it tilted. Broth sloshed slightly onto the tray and he sighed.

"Here." Remus took the tray and set it down on the bench at the foot of the bed and poured the water from the sippy cups into the pitcher. He filled them with the broth instead and fitted the lids back on before handing one to both Lexie and Harry.

"Fancy." Lexie laughed, tipping the cup up and drinking directly from the spout. Harry, getting the idea, did the same.

"That's yummy, Moony." Harry beamed, chugging at the broth before Sirius reached out and placed a hand on top of his cup.

"Slowly now, Harry. You don't want to go too fast and make your tummy up-…" Sirius was cut off as Harry dropped the cup and reached for the bucket beside him. Sirius sighed… it was going to be a long night. He could tell already.

* * *

What is this, another one in less than a week? You bet! I really like this particular chapter, it was a lot of fun. Anyway, I hope you liked it as well! Please let me know what you thought if you'd like. ;)

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	23. Trees

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Twenty-Three: Trees**_

"Moooooonyyyyyyy." Sirius groaned as he rolled over, having taken to being in the sick bay… er… guest bedroom. He had come down with the bug a day after Harry and Lexie, so Remus had transfigured the only chair in the room into a comfy cot for him as well as made a duplicate of one of the buckets. Something about his werewolf genes made Remus less likely to contract most illnesses that originated in Muggles, which he was glad for at the moment. If he had been sick too, he would have hated to think who would take care of everyone in the house. He was cooking broth and giving out doses of medicine, getting extra blankets or cleaning out buckets.

The bug had now been in the house for three days. Harry was getting crankier and crankier about being stuck to bed, but the fact of the matter was that he was not well enough to be allowed to do more than go to the bathroom on his own because he still got rather dizzy when he was up for more than five minutes at a time. Lexie was being a trooper, trying to entertain Harry the best she could when he was awake and making failed attempts at doing more around the house. She wanted to help but she could only manage being up a tiny bit longer than Harry before she needed to lay back down. Sirius…. Was only behaving because Harry was in the room. He had never been graceful about being sick. It irritated him to no end that he couldn't get up and do what he felt needed to be done… that he couldn't help take care of his sick godson at the moment because he was stuck in bed. Whenever Harry was asleep he'd argue with Moony about being allowed out of the bed and Moony had threatened on more than one occasion that if Sirius even thought about it, he would tie him down and take away his wand so he wouldn't even be able to do pretty spells for Harry's amusement.

"I'm coming Sirius, calm down." Remus sighed, entering the room with a tray of medicine cups. He handed out two to each of his patients, ending with Harry who made a face.

"I dun wanna." Harry complained, eyeing the purple liquid of the disgusting potion he had to take with all the apprehension a four year old could ever possibly have.

"Harry, I have the pink stuff and some juice here for you afterwards. If you're good and drink it right down, I'll even get you some ginger ale." Harry seemed to ponder this for a moment before sighing and downing the tiny cup of hideous potion. He gagged, coughing and sputtering before Remus handed him the pink. He drank that down, liking the taste of it better than the purple stuff and then reaching for his juice that sat in a sippy cup beside the bed. He had to have the cover on when he was in the bed, Moony said. Even Lexie and Sirius had to have covers in bed, mostly so Harry wouldn't feel like a baby for having one. Moony had allowed him to go without one once and it had ended in an absolute nightmare. Of course, the it had taken next to no time to clean up with magic, but still…

"Remus, I'm going to take a bath." Lexie said after she downed her own medicine and pushed back the covers.

"I don't know it…"

"I have been in this bed for three days with nothing but bathroom breaks. A bath will do me good. I promise to call if I need any help whatsoever, but I can managed to stand long enough for however long it takes to put my clothes back on."

"Well, alright. Just be careful. I'll be right out here." Remus said with a nod, watching as she went into the bathroom and shut the door behind herself. She'd been wearing one of Sirius's t-shirts and a pair of Remus's pajama pants for her stay here. Remus had written an owl to St. Mungo's for her letting them know she'd be out until she was over this stupid bug.

"Moony, tell me mummy-daddy story." Harry begged, tugging at his sleeve. Remus sat down on the edge of the bed with a sigh and hugged Harry to him. "Have we told you about the time your daddy saved your mummy's life?"

"He did?" Harry asked, green eyes going wide behind his glasses. "How? When?"

"Well, it was back in our third year, way before they were even dating. There was a Quidditch match, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw and we were up by fifty points. Your dad was our very best Chaser and Sirius and I were Beaters and Lexie was another one of our Chasers. So, the game was going well, we were winning, and just as your dad is about to score another goal, this gut wrenching scream comes out of nowhere."

"You dad knew who it was before he even turned to look. He dropped the Quaffle and went as fast as he could to the opposite side of the pitch where your mummy was dangling from the stands. She'd gotten pushed over the edge and no one had been able to catch her or hoist her up because she was holding onto the stadium hangings for dear life." Sirius added, sitting up a bit so he could watch Harry's reaction.

"What happened then!" Harry asked, his little heart racing at the very thought of his Mummy dangling so very high up in the air.

"You dad was faster than anyone else on the pitch, even though he didn't have the newest of brooms and it was only his second year being on the team. He went flying for your Mummy and got their first, just as her fingers slipped. He caught her like she was a giant Quaffle and dragged her onto his broom."

"Yay Daddy!" Harry cheered, pumping his fists in the air. "Then what?"

"Well, when your dad was busy saving your mum from certain death, the Ravenclaw team managed to score about three goals and catch the snitch. So we lost the game, but everyone was pretty much just happy that Lily was alright." Remus finished, handing Harry his juice and picking his lion up off of the floor. The room looked like a war-zone. There were coloring books and crayons and toys and books all over the floor on Harry's side of the bed. Healing books and game pieces littered Lexie's side, and Sirius… well… he was surrounded by what appeared to be a mountain of hand puppets mixed with motorcycle magazines. Blankets and sheets were grossly disfigured into lumps on the beds. Juice cups and potion bottles and cracker packets were spread out on the table at the foot of the bed.

Remus sighed. "When you all are well again, we are doing some serious cleaning in here."

"We're gonna wash Paddy?" Harry asked confusedly, looking around the room.

"No, Harry, the other kind of serious."

"Ooooh." Harry nodded and snuggled down with his lion for a moment before eyeing Remus. "Moony, I want a bath too." He tugged at his pajamas, the kind with feet that kept him nice and warm during the winter.

"When Lexie is done." Remus patted his head and handed him his juice. Harry drank it down. He hadn't puked in a solid twelve hours and the color in his cheeks was seriously improving. His temperature was still higher than normal and he still got a bit dizzy though, so Lexie had suggested he stay in bed. Of course, when Harry had complained about this, she had told him she'd be lonesome without him there, so he'd given in for the time being.

"Bloody hell!" Lexie's voice came from the bathroom and Remus shot up off of the bed, Sirius rolling over and moving to get to his feet.

"I've got it Sirius." Remus knocked on the door. "You ok, Lexie?"

"Yeah. I just cut myself shaving… and knocked over the shampoo… and now I can't get up."

"Do you want me to come in?"

"Unfortunetly I think there is currently no alternative." Lexie heaved a sigh and Remus pushed open the door, entering and closing it behind himself. He pressed it open five minutes later, carrying Lexie clad in the shirt he'd been wearing, which was, thankfully, fairly long. He set her down on the bed and she tugged the covers over herself embarrassedly. "Sorry about that."

"Don't sweat it." Remus smiled and offered her a cup of water. She accepted it gratefully and drank it down. Harry pushed back the covers.

"My turn, Moony!" He stated happily, moving from the bed for the bathroom. Remus followed after him quickly.

After his bath, there was more pink in Harry's cheeks, partly from the hot water, and partly from having gotten the blood in his body flowing a bit more. He was looking less ill and a lot more back to his old self. One more night's good rest and he'd probably be ready to be out of bed and playing a lot more.

"Can I've another story, Lexie?" Harry asked as he was tucked back into bed. He snuggled up to her side, gripping his lion with his other arm and looking up at her expectantly.

"Sure." Lexie smiled and raised her wand from where it sat on the bedside table. "Let's see…"

…

"Here we go, Paddy!" Harry laughed, holding out the sippy cup of water to his godfather whom had moved from the cot to the bed, the only occupant left in the 'sick bay'. "Lotsa liquids."

"That's right, Harry. Lotsa liquids." Sirus laughed, taking the cup from him and drinking straight from the spout. Now that he was well, Harry got a hellva laugh out of seeing a grown up drinking out of a sippy cup like a toddler. Even he didn't need a lid anymore, only when he had been sick. Sirius was almost well now, but he still got a bit dizzy if he was up for too long. He didn't need the sippy, but anything to make that kid's face light up. Four days after the illness had hit the house in the first place, it was almost gone. It was now Friday, December the 21st and Harry hadn't been to school today due to a blizzard that had knocked half of the town's power out. Not that that made much of a difference in an all wizard house.

With the power outage, the guys just lived like they would have at Hogwarts. Fires had been lit in every fireplace in the house, the living room, the dining room, Sirius and Remus's rooms, and the guest bedroom. When it got dark out, they had a lot of candles placed about the house, ready to be lit. Harry, of course, had a flashlight instead of a candle, just because it was safer all around. Remus was able to fill the back of the toilet and pitcher with water from his wand, which Harry found quite exciting.

"Next time, Moony said he'd make apple juice." Harry said happily, watching Sirius drink down his water. "Or pumpkin juice." He added after a moment's thought, a grin spreading across his face. "And he said, tomorrow, we're gonna get a Christmas tree! 'nd Lexie's gonna come too."

"Wow, sounds like tomorrow is going to be a busy day for us huh? I think I might be well enough by then to come along." Sirius smiled, not wanting to miss out on taking Harry to get their first Christmas tree together.

"Yay!" Harry cheered and danced about in his footed pajamas. He ran out of the room. "MOONY! PADDY SAYS HE'S GONNA BE BETTER TOMORROW!"

Sure enough, when the sun rose of the snow covered world the next morning, Sirius was up and out of bed feeling like his old self once more. He whistled, flipping a pancake on the stove and then setting it down on a plate. Harry came into the room, bright eyed and ready for tree picking. "Paddy! You're not sick!"

"Nope." Sirius smiled and began cutting Harry's pancakes up into manageable bits for him. He doused them with syrup and then set them on the table. Harry climbed up into his chair and smiling, dug into his breakfast. "As soon as you're done it's into the tub and then we're all going to get dressed and find a tree."

"Okay!" Harry began shoving pancake into his mouth and chewing hurriedly. He wanted to finish, excited about the tree. It took him less than three minutes to get his pancakes into his stomach. He downed his milk and then dashed from the table. "Done!"

"Don't get in the tub without me!" Sirius called with a laugh. He jumped around as there was a crack from the living room and Lexie popped her head in.

"I'll watch him, but I want pancakes and bacon too." She said, eying the pan in which Sirius was putting more butter. He laughed, saluted her, and then watched as he disappeared. He could hear her hurrying up the stairs after Harry.

Once bathed and dressed, Harry jumped from booted foot to booted foot. He was wearing his snow suit, ready and rearing to get to some tree picking. He held a tiny plastic ax from his firemen's kit and was swinging it back and forth. "We're gonna chop a tree!" He cheered, waiting as Sirius pulled on his own hat and gloves.

"Alright, alright, Prongslet." He laughed, picking Harry up and hoisting him up onto his shoulders with ease. Remus and Lexie joined them, heading out the front door and across the lane. They made their way up the snowy slope across from the cottage and through a barren orchard. Coming out of the orchard, Harry grabbed hold of Sirius's head with one arm and pointed with his axe.

"Woah, Paddy! Who lives THERE?" Harry asked, leaning forward slightly to get a better look.

In the distance, not too far from the orchard, was a house that defied the odds of gravity. Built upon a stone wall and up, it stretched tall, portions of it looking as though they had been added over time, lopsided. Many little chimneys stuck out of the different colored roofs, all emitting the white smoke fireplaces. A large shed sat a bit from the house, and then other, smaller one that looked as though it might hold two grown men and nothing more. A chicken coop was off to the side and then there were trees and a garden hedge, all covered with frosty snow. A blue car sat near the larger shed, looking as though it was still missing some pieces.

"You'll see." Padfoot laughed and they made their way down the hill from the orchard, heading towards the house. As they got closer, the door opened and two small figures came running out. One was clad in a worn blue jacket, the other in a red coat that looked a bit large. They came barreling across the yard as the group got closer and Sirius set Harry down.

"Harry!"

"Hawwy!"

Red hair peeking out from under their knitted hats, Ronnie and Ginny grinned, all freckles as they waved their mittened hands. Harry perked up, and laughing, ran to hug them. Wow, Ronnie and Ginny really did live just over the hill, like Sirius had said! It wasn't the least bit far at all. "Ronnie! Ginny!" Harry hugged them tightly as they tackled him down into the snow. They rolled about, laughing and getting covered in white fluffy flakes.

"Be careful you lot." Mr. Weasley said as he came out of the house, tugging on his jacket and laughing at the rolling children. He was followed by the twins who were wearing matching green jackets and looking like they were up to something.

A window opened near the door and Mrs. Weasley poked her head out. "Good morning everyone. Arthur, don't let those two anywhere near the ax, remember what happened last year."

"Don't worry about it, Molly." Mr. Weasley smiled and headed for the larger of the two sheds which he unlocked and then pulled out an ax which was near the inside of the door for easy access, but out of reach of the kids, specifically the twins. "We ready? Right then, come along."

They followed Mr. Weasley beyond the Burrow and into the woods nearby. It wasn't a very big wood, most of this area of the world being hilly and grassy instead, but it was a good bit, big enough to find Christmas trees in.

"There are some nice spruces that grow in here just a ways. We plant a few every summer." Mr. Weasley explained, going along a path that he seemed to know well. It didn't take very long to get to the patch of trees he had mentioned, and then it was up to the kids.

"I want this one!" Ronnie exclaimed, pointing to a fat tree that was lopsided on one side.

"Nooo! This one!" Ginny jumped up and down, hugging a tree that was currently the same height as herself.

"Nu uh! This one!" Fred and George shouted from somewhere within the thicket of trees.

"Kids, calm down. You know this year it's Ginny's turn to pick."

"Aw, but why does so get to pick? Charlie picked last year, so it's Bill's turn, but he's not here and neither is Percy, so it should be our turn." Fred said, peeking out from the trees.

"Because Bill wrote to say and skip him this year. So it's Ginny's turn, you know how it works. Next year it'll be Ronnie's, and then you two will have your turn, but you've got to let Ginny pick this year."

"But she wants the weeny tree!" George complained, and Ronnie nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Daddy, we can't have a weeny tree!" Mr. Weasley sighed.

"Ginny, the boys are right. That tree's still a baby, we need a bigger tree than that."

Ginny pouted but let go of the little tree. She looked around, eyeing the larger trees passively, unsure as to which one would be best. "But, how big, Daddy?" She asked, biting one little chapped lip.

"One as big as me." Mr. Weasley explained and Ginny nodded brightly, hopping around to find another tree that was as big as her Daddy.

"Paddy, how big do we need?" Harry asked curiously, looking up at his godfather, worried as though he thought they might not pick one that was the right size.

"Well, we can get a tree that's a little bit taller than me, Harry." Padfoot explained. "Our ceiling is pretty tall, but we'll still need room for the topper, so maybe about… eight feet."

"Ok." Harry nodded with a smiled before his face turned into a frown again. "Paddy?"

"Yes?"

"Kid feet or grown up feet?"

Sirius burst out laughing, as did Remus and Lexie. It was a typical four year old question. Of course, Harry hadn't gotten to measuring things yet in school, so he didn't know the difference between feet and people feet.

"Here." Sirius hoisted Harry back onto his shoulders. "Now we want one as tall as both of us."

"Ok!" Harry felt better now that he understood how big their tree needed to be. He smiled as Sirius led Remus and Lexie through the trees. The piney scent of them was delicious and Harry loved breathing it in. It was a good smell.

"How about this one?" Moony called, pointing to one tree. Sirius turned around so Harry could see it.

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, liking the look of the big tree. It was tall enough and it had a lot of full green branches making it quite fat. To be honest, it was quite the beast of a tree. It was perfect.

"Alright then! Arthur, have you got that ax?" Lexie called, pushing through the trees to search out Mr. Weasley.

"I'll do it!" Harry said and Sirius set him down so that he could raise his plastic ax to the base of the tree. He gave it a couple of whacks and then fell backwards. "Phew." He wiped his brow and then looked up at Lexie came back with the borrowed ax (Ginny still hadn't made up her mind). "I got it started for you, Lexie."

Lexie laughed and handed to ax to Remus. Sirius tugged Harry up out of the way and they all backed up. Remus raised the ax and gave the tree a nice chop. He blinked as it stuck in the wood. "Why are we not using magic for this?"

"That, is a very good question." Mr. Weasley stated as he came through the trees. "Normally Bill and Charlie liked to help chop it down, so I guess using an ax has become sort of a habit. But the kids are too little to use it this year."

"I'm not!" Fred shouted.

"Me neither!" George added, both of them looking disgruntled.

"Not until you're at least eight boys." Mr. Weasley sighed and raised his wand. Harry's tree severed where it had been hit with the ax, falling to be caught by Remus. The ax fell to the ground off of the stump. "There."

"Yay!" Harry cheered, glad that his tree was ready to go home now.

"Hawwy, help me picks one." Ginny said, coming out from behind the trees. She eyed Harry's tree jealously.

"We need one like that, only smaller." Mr. Weasley suggested and everyone set to searching. Harry took Ginny's hand and they pushed through the lower branches of the trees, looking.

"That one!" Ginny exclaimed after a few minutes. "That one's big like my Daddy, but not too big."

"You're right, Ginny. Good job!" Mr. Weasley smiled and looked the tree over. It was a nice full one as well. He severed it near the bottom and caught it. "There, now let's head home."

With the help of the kids, the adults dragged the two trees back through the woods to the Burrow.

"Mummy! Mummy! I pickded a good one! Mummy!" Ginny hollered as they got closer to the house and she took off running, excited to show her mum the tree. Mrs. Weasley peeked out the window again.

"Oh Ginny, that's a lovely tree! I'm so proud of you." Ginny beamed with pride and ran to open the door for her father and brothers. "Join us for lunch?" Mrs. Weasley asked of Sirius and he nodded.

"We'd love to." He and Remus rested the tree against the shed and then moved to help Mr. Weasley lug the other tree into the Burrow. They got it in through the kitchen and into the little sitting room where its stand was waiting. It fit perfectly, Ginny had done well.

"There, now let's just leave it to warm up and melt some of that snow off of it then." Mrs. Weasley smiled and ushered them all back into the kitchen where she had hot bowls of soup waiting.

Harry was looking around everywhere. He'd never been inside Ronnie's house before. It was a lot different from his own. It was warm and homey, comfortable and clean, but it was also obvious that a family lived there. He took his seat at the scrubbed wood table beside Ronnie. Everyone's boots sat beside the door, snow melting off of them where a towel ran along them all on its own, keeping the floor dry. Jackets hung on the coat rack, mittens from pegs to dry above the huge fireplace. It was a really big one, like the one in the living room back home, big enough for a person to stand in. It made Harry feel warm and cozy inside to be here.

"Oh, the Hogwarts Express has left, Arthur." Mrs. Weasley nodded to the clock on the wall. Harry turned around and gasped as he watched two of the nine hands move. He'd never seen a clock with so many hands before. Seven of them were in the same spot.

"Oh, that is a neat clock, Molly." Remus said, sounding slightly astounded.

"What's it say?" Harry asked curiously.

Remus stood up and pointed to the spot where most of the hands were. "Each hand has one of the Weasleys on it, Harry. It says where they are. Home. Work. School. Traveling." This was where Bill and Charlie's hands were. "Lot. Hospital. Prison." He purposely left out 'Mortal Peril.' and then turned to smiled at Harry. "It's so Mrs. Weasley knows where everyone is."

"Wow." Harry stared at the clock, his eyes wide. "Is it magic?"

"But of course." Remus laughed and patted Harry on the head. "It's a special charm, isn't it Molly?"

"Yes."Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Each hand has a strand of hair in it from the person it's for, then it has a few difficult charms on it to make it work."

"Wow." Harry said again, still impressed by the clock. He'd never seen anything like it before. "Moony can we make one of those?"

"Whaddaya say, Molly?"

"I'd love to help you make one." Mrs. Weasley beamed, glad they liked her clock so much. Aside from her family, it was her pride and joy. She felt it was something every family should have, especially one with lots of children like her own.

"Then I'd known when Paddy is coming home!" Harry exclaimed brightly, scooping the last of his soup into his mouth and smiling happily.

"Mum, can I show Harry my room?" Ronnie asked as he set down his spoon.

"Go ahead, but not too long now."

"Alright!" Ronnie grinned and tugged at Harry's sleeve. "C'mon." They dashed out of the kitchen and up the stairs. They went up and up and up, all the way to the top until they reached the very last door that had a plaque on it that read 'Ronald.' Ronnie pushed the door open and they entered the room.

Ronnie's room was smaller than Harry's but it was very bright and friendly. The walls were orange with a few posters on them, two displaying Quidditch players in orange robes, and a third displaying a cartoonish character.

"Who's that?" Harry asked, pointing to the poster and sitting down on the patchwork quilt that sat on the bed. It looked as though it'd been made out of baby clothes, it had bears and rattles and stuff that babies wore all over it. Harry thought it was rather neat all put together like that.

"Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle." Ronnie said. He went to his desk and picked up five comic books that sat there. "These were Charlie's, but he gives them to me when he's done with em. I can't read much yet though…" Ronnie frowned. "But the pictures are good. They tell most of the story."

"Cool!" Harry admired the comic book Ronnie handed him and opened it. It had a colorful cover and black and white pictures with word bubbles all in it. He could read a few of the words, but most of them were a bit big for him still. He set the book down and then pointed to the other posters. "Quidditch?"

"The Chudley Cannons!" Ronnie said excitedly. "They're my favorite. When I'm big, I'm gonna play for them." He stated proudly, a thumb to his chest. "But first I need to learn how to fly. Bill takes me sometimes, and Fred had a toy broom for a while, but Mum says I can't have one 'cause I broke Fred's by accident."

"You can still play on mine." Harry suggested with a smile. He knew he would be very sad without his toy broom. It was probably his favorite toy aside from all of his trains and his lion and dragon.

"Harry! Time to go." Lexie called up the stairs and Ronnie sighed.

"Aw… I wanted to play more." Harry pouted slightly but then brightened up a bit. "Maybe you can come too."

"I gotta help decorate the tree." Ronnie said after a moment's consideration. "But Mummy says we're going to a party at your house for New Year's. 'nd she said Bill or Charlie or Percy can bring me to play over at your house sometimes when you're not at school and that you can come here when Mr. Black says you can."

"Oh yeah!" Harry nodded, remembering about the party now and how Sirius had said Ronnie could visit a lot while he was on holiday from school. He felt better about leaving knowing when he'd see Ronnie again. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"Yeah! Let's ask."

The two little boys bolted back down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Paddy, can Ronnie come over tomorrow and play?"

"Sure. We'd be glad to have any of you lot over to play." Sirius smiled, holding out Harry's snow suit so that he could get dressed for the outdoors.

"And you're welcome here any time, as well." Mrs. Weasley smiled and then bent down to zip Harry up and give him a kiss on the cheek. "Keep warm."

"I will." Harry smile brightly and tugged his hat down over his ears. Bidding the Weasleys goodbye, the guys and Lexie headed out into the snowy afternoon. They got their tree and dragged it along, back to the house.

* * *

Sorry about the lapse, guys. It's kind of hard writing with my 's' key being stupid as it is. Until now I didn't realize just how many 's's I use. It's basically broken to the point where I've had to take the actual key off until I can figure out a way to get it to... wait a damn second... Nope, that is officially broken pernamently. Don't ask me how I managed it, I don't even know myself. I'd glue the key to the top if I wasnt scared of it sticking forever and never working again, so alas, I type it on a little white rubber nub instead.

I may or may not also be building a doll house out of popsicle sticks. XD Needless to say, this is also a very distracting project.

Go ahead and ctrl F, see how many damn s's there are in this chapter. Not that I'm going to stop writing just because of this. I'm going to continue to the best of my ability. Ooo... if I balance the key on top of the nublet it seems to work a bit better than without it.

Oh yeah, as for you all who have mentioned, or wondered about Harry growing up. I'm not in any rush. This story is about Harry getting the life he deserves before Hogwarts. I may continue on into Hogwarts, but he's going to grow up first. At least the first year with Sirius will be written about, and then I'll probably skip a bit.

I appreciate and read every single reveiw you guys write. I honestly am beyond belief with how much love this story gets. I would just like to say thank you, very very very much for your continued reading. I will try my very best to update more often.

Sorry for the extra long author's note! Just some stuff I really felt needed saying.

As always, with love, for absolute serious with so much love and thanks,

S.Q.O. another damn s.


	24. Snitches

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Twenty-Four: Snitches**_

"Paddy, that doesn't go on you head!" Harry giggled as Sirius attempted to untangle the tinsel from his body. Remus had lovingly dropped it on him from the stairs and then dashed back up to get the last box of ornaments for the tree which they'd set up in the corner of the sitting room opposite the fire place.

"But don't I look pretty, Prongslet?" Sirius smiled and managed to release himself from the grasp of the tinsel. Harry gathered it up off of the floor and dashed into the sitting room where the tree sat, already adorned with its lights.

"Can you help me?" He asked, smiling and holding the tinsel up above his head with a bit grin on his face. Sirius smiled and took part of the tinsel.

"Follow me." He went round and round the tree, Harry trailing behind him as they laid the tinsel upon the branches, making sure it was pretty as they did so.

"Oh, that looks great guys!" Remus smiled as he set the last box down on the chair nearest the tree and pulled it open. Dust flew into the air and he sneezed, digging into the box. "Harry, these are special ornaments I saved from your house when you were a baby. Look see?" He extracted a tiny box made of carefully folded paper and opened it. "This was your very first ornament."

"A snitch! And it has my name!" Harry's eyes went wide as he gently took the golden blown glass ball with delicately crafted glass wings from Remus. Someone had added bits of blue into the glass and then, most likely using magic, spelt out 'Harry James Potter 1980'. "Oh, it's so pretty!"

"Mhm, so let's be very careful with it. Here, we can set it up here." Remus pointed to a spot about Harry's height and Harry (with a little help) got it safely onto a branch. Harry stepped back, beaming with pride as he looked at his ornament before he dashed over to the box and peeked inside.

"Were these my Mummy and Daddy's too?"

"Yep. This one was your mum's special, most favorite ornament." Remus smiled and pulled out a tiny fairy standing on an old fashioned phonograph. He winded it up and music began to tinkle out of it, the Nutcracker song. "She had it since she was a very small little girl, probably about your age."

"Wow." Harry smiled, eyeing the fairy with bright eyes. "But Moony, it dun't got no string."

"That's because it goes on the mantle." Remus smiled and place it up on top of the fireplace and then dug into the box again. They took out baubles in all different designs, some classically round, others depicting teddy bears or horses, there was even a tiny little red metal tricycle that Harry thought would have been nice for his mother's fairy.

"Paddy, can we put that one on the mantle too? In case the fairy wants to ride it?"

"Sure Harry." Sirius laughed and set the tiny tricycle down on the mantle next to the neat little music maker. They continued placing the ornaments up on the tree, most of them ending up more towards to bottom due to a certain four year old's inability to reach very high, but he thought it looked very nice whenever he added a new one.

Once the boxes were empty, the three boys stepped back to admire their work. Harry smiled wide, so very happy to have such a wonderful tree. He'd only ever had the fake kind of tree, Aunt Petunia wanting absolutely nothing to do with pine needles on her nice sitting room carpet. But Harry thought this real tree was much, much better. It smelled wonderful every time he came downstairs, all piney and warm.

"Only one more thing." Remus stated, reaching into the box from Harry's very first house and pulling out something wrapped very delicately in paper. He pulled the paper off, revealing a metal framed golden snitch with about a thousand different little panes of colored glass all over it and wings that looked like they could have been made of the most delicate of spider webs all spun together to form a fairly solid mass of gorgeousness. Harry's jaw dropped and he reached his hands out, grasping for a moment at the air before something in his brain clicked.

"I remember that." He said after a moment. "That goes on top!"

"You remember it?" Said Sirius, surprised. "Your dad had it specially made for your mum. I had to hide it at my place for a week."

"Colors everywhere." Harry stated simply and Remus handed him the magnificent rainbow of a snitch. Lifting him up from his waist, Sirius hoisted Harry high and the little boy placed the topper on the very topmost of the tree. Sirius set Harry down and then hooked the topper into the strand of lights. It lit up, light shining out through it and causing thousands of colorful spots to erupt all over the sitting room. Harry laughed, clapping his hands. "Told you!"

"You're right, Prongslet." Sirius smiled and scooped him up, their faces bathed in the colorful light. "Colors everywhere."

"Oh, that looks simply stunning boys!" Lexie beamed, coming into the room carrying a tray of sandwiches and milk and setting it down on the coffee table. "Well, I think you lot deserve a lunch break. And maybe after we'll finish up decorating the rest of the house."

"Where did you come from?" Remus asked, looking surprised at Lexie's sudden appearance.

"Oh you know… just around." Lexie said, looking from him to Sirius and then to Harry. "Ready to eat, sweetheart?"

"Okay!" Harry laughed, wriggling down out of Sirius's arms and dashing over to grab up the peanutbutter and jelly sandwich that he knew was his because all the grownups had weird stuff in their's… like lettuce or tomatoes.

….

"Ooooh, you better not cry, you better not pout…" Remus sang out as he took a strand of lights from Harry and (after glancing around for Muggles) began using his wand to peg them up along the roof of the house.

"You better scream, you better not shout, Santa Clause is comin' to toooown!" Harry laughed, jumping up and down in his boots. He slipped and fell backwards into the snow, but kept laughing, not the least bit hurt in his fluffy snowsuit. Remus had offered to do the outside of the house while Sirius and Lexie did the inside. Harry had volunteered his services outside, wanting to get out and play in the snow for a bit today.

"He's making a list."

"He's checkin' it twice!"

"He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice!" Harry jumped as the third voice joined them and turned around to see two figures coming across the snowy lane, both clad in slightly worn jackets and boots with knitted hats on their heads. One was Harry sized, the other was a fairly tall boy with plenty of freckles and a kind smile.

"Ronnie!" Harry laughed, running to the front gate to greet him. "Me and Moony are making the house pretty."

"Fun!" Ronnie smiled as Charlie helped the two smaller boys unlatch the gate.

"Alright Ronnie. You be good now, and I'll be back for you before dinner, ok?"

"Okay." Ronnie nodded.

"Thanks a lot, Charlie!" Remus called with a wave as Charlie waved back.

"If he's any trouble, Mum said to just give us a Floo!"

"No worries!"

"Ronnie, d'you wanna help me help Moony?"

"Sure." Ronnie smiled and the two boys grabbed up the strings of lights that were on the front porch. They carried them over to Remus so he could string them up, all around the windows. Once that was done with, they helped him stick a bunch of big plastic candy canes in the ground along the front walk.

"It looks really good." Harry beamed, admiring their work. He flopped down on the ground and began digging, making a nice solid pile for the beginnings of a snowman.

"Mhm! I bet Ginny and 'mione would like it too." Ronnie nodded in agreement, starting to dig so as to help Harry. "I made 'mione a present but my Mummy said we'll haveta get her address and mail it to her the Muggle way 'cause Errol might scare her."

"Errol?"

"Our owl."

"Woah, you have an owl?" Harry asked, very impressed. Ronnie had so many brothers and a sister and a mum and dad AND an owl!

"Yeah. He's pretty good at getting letters and packages where they gotta go." Ronnie nodded with a smile. "Bill's got a pet toad and Charlie has a salamander that he got from the gamekeeper at Hogwarts. It's really cool. It's orange, and likes to play in our fireplace."

"Neat!" Harry beamed, kind of wishing he had a pet to brag about. Padfoot could turn into a dog, but he wasn't really a dog. Hmm, maybe Santa would bring him a pet? He'd have to remember to ask Padfoot or Moony or Lexie to help him put it in his letter. He'd already started it, but he hadn't been entirely sure what to ask for yet.

"I hafta wee, can'I use your bathroom?" Ronnie asked after they'd spent a couple more minutes digging in the snow.

"Yeah." Harry nodded and continued digging and piling as Ronnie got up and headed into the house. Harry pondered his pile and then added some more snow, patting it down. Maybe he'd make snow castle instead of a snowman. It looked like it'd be a pretty awesome castle…

"Harry! Harry!" Ronnie came running off of the porch and down the front walk, his blue eyes wide. "Harry, you'll never guess what I just saw!"

"What?" Harry asked, looking up in excitement. Whatever it was that had gotten Ronnie all worked up like this had to be good.

"They're snogging!"

"What?"

"Mr. Black and Lexie! I went to go wee, and they were sitting on the couch, snogging!" Ronnie flailed his arms in the air. "SNOGGING!"

"What's snogging?" Harry asked after a moment of confusion. Ronnie stared at him.

"Well, Bill says it's like kissing, only kissing a LOT. And you only do it with someone you really like a lot, like how my dad likes my mum a lot only I've never seen them snogging."

"What's this I hear you boys discussing?" Remus asked, looking slightly amused as he came around the corner of the house carrying a metal, light up deer he'd gotten out of the garage. He placed it into the ground near the porch and hooked it into one strand of lights.

"Snogging." Ronnie said simply.

"And why, might I ask, are we discussing that particular subject?"

"Because Ronnie says he saw Paddy and Lexie doing it." Harry explained, his green eyes wide behind his slightly snow flecked glasses.

"Well, that would explain a few things…" Remus muttered to himself before bursting out laughing. "Harry, Ronnie, let's not mention this to Padfoot or Lexie for now, ok? Let's keep it a secret."

"Ok." Harry smiled and dug deeper into the snow. "Hey, Moony? Does that mean Lexie is gonna be my new mummy?"

"I dunno, Harry. Oh what're you building here?" Remus asked, quickly changing the subject but making a mental note to speak to the other adults at the very next opportunity he got.

…..

"Sooooo…. Padfoot." Remus said, entering the kitchen where Sirius was washing up the dinner dishes. He had just left Harry and Lexie upstairs finishing up Harry's list to Santa. Appearently he had quite a few things to add to it after spending an afternoon with Ronnie. They were fairly simple four year old wishes, such as a tricycle and candy.

"Yeah?" Sirius looked up from the sink where he was waving his wand to make the sponge scrub hard at a particularly tough spot on one of their cast iron pans.

"While we were outside this afternoon, Ronnie came over to play." Remus leaned up against the counter.

"I am aware of this." Sirius nodded. "He did nail me in the face with a snowball."

"Yeah. Well, before you came out to play, it seems he came inside to have a wee."

"Did he make a mess in the bathroom? Because I can clean it up, sometimes little boys miss."

"No, nothing like that. But mate, there really isn't any other way to ask this, but were you and Lexie snogging?"

The cast iron pan splooshed into the water and hit the bottom of the sink with a clang. Sirius got a face full of bubbles and Remus laughed, tossing a towel at him. "I'll take that as a yes." Sirius sighed and sat down.

"You're not angry?"

"Why the hell would I be angry?" Remus asked curiously, looking a bit shocked.

"Well, I just… I mean… you guys used to date and…"

"We had one study date that was strictly so she would be able to pass her Charms O.W.L nine years ago." Remus corrected him, laughing again and clapping him on the back. "I'm happy for you mate. Oh, but let's not get Harry's hopes up in case it goes sour… He's already asked if Lexie is gonna be his new mum."

Sirius choked slightly and then laughed. "Well, I dunno 'bout that. But she is quite brilliant."

….

"Hey Lexie, how do I spell 'bubbles'?" Harry asked after a moment, his red crayon poised in his hand above the sheet of parchment he was using to write his letter to Santa. He had to get it finished as quickly as possible and send it out because Christmas was the day after tomorrow and he didn't want to be skipped just because he hadn't gotten his letter out in time. Padfoot had said that Santa was a special kind of magic though, so he'd get Harry's letter. And it wasn't like Muggle post that took days anyway. They were sending it the wizard way.

"B-U-B-B-L-E-S." Lexie stated slowly, giving Harry time to write down each letter and smiling as he somehow managed to make as backwards 's' at the end.

"Thanks." Harry smiled and continued writing, Lexie peeking over his shoulder.

"A mummy? Like the kind all wrapped up in toilet paper?"

"Noooo, silly. A mummy, cause I dun has one. 'cept, not my real mummy, cause Paddy says even Santa can't bring her backs, but a new mummy cause I have sorta a new daddy already, cept he isn't my real daddy so his name isn't Daddy but he's like a daddy."

"Oh. Well, I dunno if Santa can bring you a mum-figure but I suppose it can't hurt to ask."

"Mhm!" Harry beamed and continued writing out a few more things on his list. He held it up for Lexie to go over and she smiled.

"Let's see… Dear Santa,

My Paddy says I have been a good boy this year so I can write to say what I want for Christmas this year. You do not know me much because I have not write you a letter before because I just learned but Paddy says you do know me because you know all boys and girls. So this is my list and if you can bring these I will be happy. You do not have to bring all of them, maybe just one or two.

Pet  
Tricycle Dinoswars  
Snitch  
Candy  
Bubbles  
Mummy Train book  
Kwidith pajamahs

Love,Harry Potter

Oh this looks wonderful, Harry." Lexie smiled and handed the letter back to Harry who rolled it up and let Lexie tie it together with a bit of string. "There. Now all we need to do is Floo it to the north pole so Santa can get it."

"Yay!" Harry grabbed his letter and ran down the stairs, heading for the sitting room where Sirius was getting a fire going in the hearth. "Paddy, I have my letter!"

"Alright!" Sirius smiled and reached up onto the fireplace for the glass jar where they kept the floo powder. "Are you ready Harry?"

"Yep." Harry nodded, letter poised in his hand. Sirius threw a handful of floo powder into the fireplace and Harry followed with his letter. Sirius shoved his head into the fireplace and shouted.

"Santa's Workshop!" The letter disappeared in a whirl of green flames and Harry clapped, looking fantastically fascinated by this special method of letter sending. It was even better than an owl!

"Santa's gonna get it in time, right Paddy?" Harry asked, staring at the fireplace, his little face still a bit worried about his precious letter. Sirius nodded and scooped him up.

"Harry, Santa is probably already reading your letter right at this very moment. That's why we used Floo powder to get it to him."

"Oh, yay!" Harry smiled, feeling even better now and he wriggled until Sirius set him back down upon the floor. He ran from the living room and into the kitchen were Remus was and bouncing up and down, announced. "Moony! I flooed my letter to Santa!"

"That's awesome, Harry." Remus smiled and held out a cookie which Harry took happily and ran off, happily munching away at his cookie. He was so very excited for Christmas!

…...

"What're we gonna get?" Harry asked, looking around at all the shops as he held on tightly to Padfoot's hand.

"Presents, of course." Sirius laughed, ignoring the staring eyes all around them. He'd finally decided to take Harry into Diagon Alley for today's shopping trip and the people around them clearly recognized Sirius, and if they had read the newspapers at all, they knew just who the little boy with him was. However, Sirius was keeping a tight hold upon Harry and only nodding to a familiar face every now and then, hurrying along so as not to present an opportunity to anyone for stopping them. Harry didn't need that. "We're running a bit late because we were all so sick, but that's alright."

"Presents for who?"

"Our family and friends. For Christmas."

"Oooooh." Harry nodded in understanding and then gave a little skip. His red boot hit ice and he slid, but Sirius tightened his grip on the little boy's hand and tugged upwards, keeping Harry from crashing to the sidewalk. Harry laughed, glad to have been caught just in time. He wasn't too fond of falling, though he wasn't scared of it either. "So we're gonna get presents for Moony and Lexie, and Ronnie, and 'mione, and Ginny, and Luna, and…"

"Yes yes yes, Harry. We're going to get presents for all of our family and all of our friends."

"Yay! Can'I pick them out?"

"Of course you can. Here, we'll start with the easy ones." Sirius smiled and led Harry into a promising looking toy shop. It was full of people moving every which way and Harry laughed, watching one boy chase after a ball. It looked like fun! "What do you think your friends would like?"

"Hmmm…" Harry looked around, his eyes trailing over the toys with curiosity. They were different than the Muggle toys he'd seen most of his life so far. They were really neat. He wanted to get his friends something really cool, something he knew they'd really like. "Paddy… I dunno…."

"Well… let's think. What are your friends favorite things? Start with… Ronnie."

Harry frowned for a moment before brightening up. "Ronnie likes orange and Quidditch and comic books and his bear."

"Alright then, keep those things in mind while you look around and maybe we'll find the perfect gift for Ronnie." Harry nodded and they started to wander along the shop, keeping their eyes out.

"Oh! Paddy, look! Chudley Cannons." Harry pointed up and Sirius turned his gaze to a hat tree that sat, holding all sorts of different play hats. There were pirate hats and owl hats and princess hats, and an orange cap that had a pair of cannon balls on it that looked as though it'd been sitting on the stand for quite some time. "You're right Harry, that is a Chudley Cannons cap." Sirius pulled it down off of the hat stand and Harry smiled, holding it tightly to his chest.

"It's Ronnie's Quidditch team, he'd like it a lot."

"Good choice! Here, put it in the basket." Sirius held out the basket he'd grabbed at the door and Harry set the hat down into it with a smile. "Now, what about Hermione?"

"'mione likes books a lot." Harry said after a minute before frowning. "But I dunno what book she needs."

"Well, let's go look at the books, I bet we can find something here for her." Harry smiled and followed Sirius through the shop toward the book section. Bright colors and moving pictures on covers met their eyes and Sirius frowned. Hermione's parents couldn't see a moving picture book, that wouldn't work.

"Oh! Paddy, what's this?" Harry asked, grabbing up a packet next to the books. He held it up and Sirius grinned.

"Those are bookmarks. You put them inside of a book to help you remember the page you were on last without bending the corner."

"Ooooh, I bet 'mione likes bookmarks. She dun like bent pages." Harry grinned and looked through them. There were lots of different book marks. There were paper ones with pretty pictures on them, bendy plastic ones in a rainbow of colors and metal ones with different colored designs on them with long dangling ribbons that had little beads on the end in all different shapes.

"How about these, Harry?" Sirius suggested, picking up a packet of five metal ones. "Look, they have sea creatures on them, there's even an otter." Harry took the packet and smiled, admiring the pretty bookmarks, all lined up in plastic so he could see what they had on them.

"'mione likes otters and books." Harry nodded and set the bookmarks in the basket next to Ronnie's hat. He was having so much fun picking out special presents for his friends. "Oh, look Paddy!"

Harry pointed and ran along to the corner of the shop where there were about a thousand different art supplies. His mouth dropped in awe. This, he knew, was where he'd find the perfect present for his Luna-sissy. There were colored pencils, all sorts of inks, quills, pens, papers, crayons, paint, markers, and other things Harry didn't recognize. But if there was one thing Harry knew for certain about Luna, it was that her absolute favorite thing to do was paint and get as messy as she could please.

"Let's get paints for Luna." He said, kneeling on the floor and looking at all the different paint sets. There were water colors, something called tempre, another called acrylic. There were even paints for your clothes. "Hmmm… oh! Lookit, Paddy! This one says… color… ch-chan…what's that word there?"

"Changing. Looks like they change all different colors of the rainbow."

"Oh, that's neat." Harry smiled and blinked as another box caught his eye. "Oh! Fairy paints. Look! Fairy paints!" He grabbed up the set of paints and held it up for Sirius to see. A rainbow of colors that would glow in the dark just like the fairies Harry remembered catching over the summer. His Luna-sissy would be sure to like those! He dropped it into the basket.

"You're doing so well Harry." Sirius smiled proudly, quite astounded truth be told. It wasn't every day you could take a four year old into a toy shop and ask him to pick out things for everyone but himself. Harry, who had never really had the opportunity to do these sorts of things, possessed a truly Christmasy spirit right now.

"Oh Paddy… lookit!" Harry moaned slightly, his eyes trailing upwards as he pointed. Or maybe he just had been too distracted to notice yet…

Sirius looked up. A Golden Snitch was fluttering it's way around near one of the ceiling lights, obviously charmed with a spell that made it much slower and more of a proper toy than a true Snitch that one used to play a real game of Quidditch. It was probably made of another metal just painted gold instead of real gold too. He looked down at his godson, green eyes wide behind his wire rim glasses. A Snitch. That had been one of the things on Harry's list, Lexie had said later in the evening last night after Harry was in bed.

The longing on Harry's face made Sirius's heart ache, but he smiled. "Yes, it's very nice Harry. Perhaps Santa will bring you one just like it."

"Oh, but Paddy, we could save him some work if we just got it now." Harry stated quite slyly, his eyes still trained on the Snitch. Sirius shook his head.

"We're not here to get things for ourselves, Harry. Christmas is more about the giving than the getting. You still need to find something for Ginny."

"But I neeeeed it. I'll never be a good Quidditch player without a Snitch!" Harry pouted, his whole being deflating.

"You've only one and a half more days until Christmas. If Santa doesn't bring you a Snitch, then maybe we'll think about getting one ourselves, but for now, just be patient."

"It's very hard." Harry admitted, heaving a sigh and tearing his eyes away from the Snitch too look up at Sirius. "Are you sure we gotta wait for Santa?"

"Yep. Otherwise he'll be sad if he brings you a Snitch but you already have one." Sirius took Harry's hand and led him off in another direction, away from the Snitch.

"I wouldn't mind two Snitches."

"Yeah, but I'm sure there's another kid out there who'd like a Snitch as well, and if you have two, that means he doesn't get one."

"Oooh… okay then." Harry nodded, feeling sad that he couldn't have the Snitch today, but excited that Santa might bring him one. He'd feel bad if he had two Snitches and someone else didn't get one because of it. He remembered how it'd been when Dudley had gotten tons of presents and he, Harry, had usually only gotten an old pair of pajamas or a paper clip.

Turning his attention back to the quest at hand, Harry and Sirius finally found a really good presents for Ginny and Neville. Ginny was getting a stuffed cat that really meowed and purred, and Neville was getting a set of blocks that would restack themselves if you knocked them over by accident. Harry was pleased with his choices and they finally left the toy shop, needing to find present for Moony and Lexie too.

* * *

Hey guys! Sorry about the big delay, I really didn't mean for it to take so long. In my last AN I told y'all that my s key was broken. Well, my spacebar followed shortly after that and then my laptop began acting like it was possessed. Let me tell you, it gets quite annoying when your computer types a bunch of random letters every time you hit the space key. And then it decides that it wants to log you off or restart itself... and no, it wasn't even a virus, it was an actual physical oddity. Thankfully, everything important was backed up onto a pretty little usb drive and my boyfriend has strange computery hoardingish tendencies wherein I got lucky because he has an awesome desktop he rarely used and is letting me er... 'borrow'. Sad news is, no more Word 07. Good news is, it has a similar, if not as awesome, Word program, so we are back in writing business! I do, however, miss having it not correct words like 'Quidditch' and 'Dumbledore' because I write them so often I added them to my dictionary.

ANYWAY, I hopoe you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm sorry for the rather longish AN again. Please lemme know what you thought, because I always appreciate it when you do.

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	25. Memories

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Twenty-Five: Memories**_

"Paaaaddy! Paddy? Padfoot, Padfoot!" Harry's voice echoed through the house like a elephant trumpeting. He ran from the living room where he was working on wrapping presents and into the kitchen. But there was no Padfoot in here either. Where could he have gone too?

"Harry, Sirius had to go out for a bit this afternoon, remember?" Remus said, poking his head out of his study as Harry went from the kitchen, to the dining room, and then to the hallway, his eyes looking and scanning the house.

"Oh yeah." Harry nodded, before frowning and holding up his hands. They were covered in wrapping paper and tape. "I'm stuck, Moony." Remus laughed and reached out to help him, prying the tape away from Harry's skin gently, so as not to hurt him.

"How on earth did you manage that, Harry?"

"Well, I was wrapping presents for my friends, but then the tape wouldn't break and I kept pulling but it still wouldn't break." Harry admitted, wriggling his now free fingers as Remus pulled bits of tape and paper out of his unruly jet-black hair.

"Do you want some help?"

"Yes, please." Harry nodded and bolted back into the living room once he was tape and paper free. The floor was scattered with bits of wrapping paper, tape rolls, a pair of safety scissors, and of course, all of the presents Harry had gotten for his friends that morning. Sirius had helped him wrap his present for Moony before he'd left and placed it safely under the tree.

Remus sighed, eyeing the mess. Ever since he'd started living with Harry, he was beginning to get used to a bit more mess, but he still wasn't fond of it very much. He'd always gotten on the other Marauders' cases when they're dorm room at Hogwarts had gotten a bit out of hand. It was one thing to fling your dirty underwear on the floor. It was a complete other to find someone else's beneath your pillow.

"See, you've just got to be a little more careful with the tape, Harry, like this. Watch." Remus took the tape despenser off of the floor and pulled one small strand of tape outwards, and then pulled it down so that it hit the sharpened edge and tore off easily. "You don't need very much to seal the paper, just enough to keep it from popping open."

"Okay." Harry nodded and let Moony help him cut some paper for Hermione's present and then folded it up. It was easiest putting the paper on flat things because it folded over them easily. Things like Ronnie's cap were much harder to work with.

"Have you wrapped Padfoot's yet?"

"Mhm." Harry nodded and pointed to the tree where a severely tapped and misshapen present lay. He and Remus had gotten it when Sirius had still been sick in bed but with Lexie to look after him. Harry had thought it very smart and very sneaky of Moony to think of getting Sirius a present when he least expected it.

"Good. It looks nice." Moony smiled and together, he and Harry finished getting the rest of Harry's presents for his friends wrapped up all pretty with ribbon bows on top.

"Paddy said Santa might bring me a Snitch, Moony." Harry announced when they had finished wrapping the last of the gifts. "We saw one at the toy store, but he said we couldn't get it 'cause then if Santa brought me one, someone else wouldn't have one and would be sad."

"That they would be. But I bet you'll get a Snitch, Harry. And if Santa doesn't bring you one, then we'll get you one another time, so don't worry."

"Well, mostly I just want one for my mummy."

"Hmmm?" Remus blinked, looking up from where he was labeling Ginny's present to where Harry sat, twirling a piece of ribbon around his finger.

"'cause she liked them a lot and I dunno if she got one." Harry frowned, stopping his twirling and letting the ribbon drop to the floor.

"Oh Harry, you don't need to worry about that. Your mummy had lots of Snitches."

Harry blinked, perking up. "She did?"

"Mhm. Your daddy gave her plenty of Snitches because he knew she loved them a lot. Let me see… I believe she had Snitch socks, and a t-shirt, and hair clips, and a necklace, and of course the tree topper. And she did have a real Snitch she used to let you play with. I've probably got some of her Snitches in one of my boxes somewhere. I saved quite a few things from your old house after it exploded, but just the important ones." Remus frowned. He'd been meaning to pull the boxes out and go through them again to see what was in there. He couldn't remember exactly what it was he had saved, but he'd been so busy lately with Harry that it kept slipping his mind.

"Can'I see?"

"I suppose now is a good a time as ever. Come on, we'll have an easier time getting all of them if we go up to my room."

Harry beamed brightly and chased after Moony now, heading up to first the second floor, and then onto the third floor where Moony's bedroom, the guest room, and two other bathrooms were.

Harry didn't go into Moony's room very often, rarely needing to since Moony was usually downstairs with him or in his study anyway, but he liked the room nonetheless. It was mostly light blue with honey colored wooden furniture, and surrounded by bookshelves that held the books that didn't fit down in Remus's study.

Harry climbed up onto Remus's freshly made bed and watched as his second favorite guardian went into his closet. He returned, carrying a large box, then another, and finally, one last one. He set the first one on the bed and the other two on the floor.

"Ah, let's see. This first one was your dad's." Moony smiled and tugged the box open. Dust flew from it and Harry coughed a little, leaning forward on the bed to get a better look inside but alol he could see was a lot of scarlet fabric. Moony grinned and tugged the fabric out. "These were your dad's Quidditch robes. See? Potter, number two. The Keeper is always number one. The Chasers are two, three, and four. The Beaters are five and six, and the Seeker is number seven. Here."

Remus held out the robes and then tugged them down over Harry's head. They were much too large for the little boy, but the grin that erupted upon Harry's face said he didn't care about that at all. These robes had belonged to his daddy and he would wear them with pride.

A pair of Chaser's gloves followed by a broken bit of wood with the words 'Silver Arrow' embossed upon it came out of the box next. Harry donned the gloves for a moment before taking them off and examining the bit of wood.

"That's a piece of your dad's first broomstick. It got torn to shreds during a match against Slytherin in our fifth year when a Bludger hit it straight on. Couldn't be repaired. Ah, and of course." Remus held up a beaten to hell Quaffle with a smiley face drawn on it in permanent ink. "This is named Anna Lucia. Your mum actually gave it to your dad as a sort of wedding present. If I remember correctly she took it after the championship game at the end of seventh year, which we won by the way, drew a face on it, and named it."

"Anna Lucia." Harry smiled, hugging the Quaffle tightly to his chest. Remus pawed through the rest of the box, but it was mostly old bits of parchment with notes on them from their Marauder days and a few exchanged between James and Lily over the years. He'd share those with Harry when he was a bit older.

"Alright, now, let's see…. This box has your mum's stuff in it." Remus put the first box on the floor and pulled the second one up. He tugged it open and dug inside, Harry looking on with more anticipation than he had before.

"Ah, see? Snitch socks." Remus held up a pair of worn out socks covered in fluttering golden snitches and Harry beamed, glad to see them. Out came the other snitch item Remus had mentioned earlier, shortly followed by a jar of perfume, a small jewelry box containing Prefect and Head Girl badges, along with a couple of other trinkets. Remus had been right. Harry's mummy did have quite a few Snitchy things.

"Here, Harry. Smell this." Remus offering up the perfume bottle and Harry gave the nozzle a sniff. He melted, his little body relaxing at the very familiar old smell. He closed his eyes, a familiar flash of red and softness filling his memory.

"That's Mummy." He said after a moment, eye opening, smile on his face.

"Yes. That's your mum. Essence of lilacs and vanilla with a hint of ginger. A strange combination, but it suited her."

Harry grinned, hugging the perfume bottle. He wasn't ever going to let this go back into a box. Not something that smelt like his mummy. He watched as Remus put the box back on the floor and lifted the last one up onto the bed.

"Well, Harry. This last box is very special, and I really should have gotten it out sooner, know why?"

"Why?" Harry asked curiously, leaning forward, trying to see the name Remus had written on top.

"Because, everything in here is yours." Remus pulled the top of the box open and Harry dropped the perfume bottle down onto the bed, leaning forward and grabbing at the box with both hands.

The blast that had sent Voldemort reeling and Harry's house exploding half of it's top floor had destroyed most of Harry's baby things, but Remus had been able to scour through the rubble after the Aurors were done examining the place.

Right on the very top of the box sat a ragged looking stuffed dog. It was black with very chewed ears and a tail, but it looked just like…

"Padfoot." Harry said, picking up the dog and hugging it. It felt right on his fingers, the fur squishing between them.

"Exactly. Well, actually, this guy is called Snuffles, but he does look an awful lot like Padfoot." Remus laughed and pulled other things out of the box as well. A slightly chewed pacifier, rattle keys, a ball that jingled when you shook it, a teething ring shaped like a dragon, and a box of cassette tapes and a walkman. "These were all your mum's favorites, but some of these were yours too. Children's songs. Lullabies." Remus picked through the cassettes with labels before reaching ones with sticker labels. "These ones your mum probably recorded songs on from the radio."

"Can we listen to em?" Harry asked, curiously, reaching into the box to retrieve a tape and holding it out to Remus.

"Well, I've got some other things I need to be getting to, but you can take this box… here…" Remus took the tape Harry had offered him and opened the walkman. "You put it in like this, then close it, and press play, that's this triangle here. Then the stop button is the square. Once it finishes the first side, you can flip it over and listen to the second side, ok? They're probably all already rewound because your mum was crazy about making sure they were always back at the beginning once she'd finished playing them."

"Okay, but Moony, I know what button does what." Harry laughed, having watched Dudley work the VCR many times before. He put the walkman back into the box and carried it and Snuffles down to his room. Remus followed after him, carting the Quaffle, perfume bottle, and box of baby things they hadn't finished going through yet. He then left Harry to his own devices, heading downstairs and back into his study.

Harry climbed up onto his bed, the scarlet Chaser's robes trailing behind him very much like a king's cape would have. He pushed the sleeves up on his arms, needing to have better use of his hands before he dumped the box of cassettes out onto his bed and began looking through them. He could read most of the words on the fronts.

Five minutes later, Harry pushed his way into Moony's study, walkman in hand. "Moony? Who's Jude and what did he make bad?"

Remus burt out laughing at Harry's innocence and patted his lap. Harry trailed over to him, headphones around his neck. He climbed into Remus's lap with a little help.

"Harry, the song is about a man called Jude who is very much in love with a lady, but he's scared of telling her so and his friends are telling him to tell the lady that he loves her, otherwise he'll regret it later." Remus said after a few moments deliberation. It was the simplest explanation he could think of that Harry would be able to at least understand a bit.

"Oh. Did he tell her?"

"Yes, I think he did. It would be sad if he hadn't right?"

"Yeah. I dunno why he'd be scared to tell the lady he loves her. All he had to say was 'I love you.' I say that all the time. It's not hard at all."

"No, it isn't hard." Remus smiled, patting Harry on the head and shifting him back onto the floor. "You go and finish listening to your music for now. I'm almost done with my work and Padfoot should be home soon for dinner.

"Ok." Harry smiled and traiped his way back upstairs to his cassette tapes. He really liked his Mummy's old music player.

…...

"Paddy, look what Moony gave me!" Harry exclaimed delightfully at dinner, holding up the walkman. "It has lotsa tapes too."

"Oh hey, I remember that. That was Lily's." Sirius smiled, taking the walkman and examining it with a smile. "The things Muggles think of, huh? It's pretty neat actually. She had a bigger one two without the head thingamajig… what was it called?"

"A boom box." Remus provided, twirling his spaghetti onto a fork. "I looked for that too, but it didn't survive the blast."

"Well, maybe we'll have to get one for the living room. Then we can all listen at once."

"Yeah! And dance!" Harry nodded, eyes bright with happiness at the idea of a boom box. There was one at his school that his teachers played very fun songs on. Like Pop Goes the Weasel and Ring Around the Rosy. He'd found some of the same songs on his mummy's old tapes.

"You know, Harry. I bet there are probably some Christmas songs on those tapes of yours. How about, tomorrow you and I look through them and see?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded with his excitement at the idea of having Christmas songs on his tapes. He loved Christmas songs. "And maybe we can find a boom box too?"

"I'll look into it." Sirius smiled, reaching across the table to ruffle Harry's hair. The little boy giggled and continue to eat away at his pasta.

…...

"Here Harry, this one has Christmas songs on it. See?' Sirius held up a red colored tape and Harry smiled. He placed it into the walkman and grinning, pressed the play button. He laughed, and held out the headphones to Sirius who pressed his ear against one, letting the other stay against Harry's ear. "Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose… I knew it wouldn't be Christmas songs."

Sirius let go of the headphone and Harry replaced them over his head, watching as Padfoot dug through the tapes, sorting them out. Lily had organized them by genra and alphabetical order, and whether they were something she had recorded from the radio or not. He picked through the recorded ones, more interested in them than the ones she had bought.

"Hey, Harry… let me see that a minute." Sirius said after a moment, having extracted a tape from the box. He stared down at it, his eyes re-reading the word 'Baby's' on the label. Harry handed over the walkman with a frown.

"But the tape isn't done, Paddy."

"That's ok. I want to just see what this one has on it first. You can listen to the Christmas one after." Sirius opened the walkman and exchanged the tapes. He placed the headphones over his own ears and pressed the play button. The headphones filled with static for a moment.

"_Is it on?"_

"_Yeah, I think so… is that what this little red light means?"_

"_Yes, James, that's what the red light means. Here, stop it and start over."_

"_Ok, I think I've got it this time. Hi baby, this is your dad."_

"_And your mum."_

"_And we're making this tape for you because you aren't here yet, but you will be soon so your mum wanted to make sure you had plenty of lullabies for when you are here, but we're too tired to sing them to you, so we're just going to record them for backup so you never have to go without."_

"_What're you guys doing?"_

"_Recording lullabies for the baby."_

Sirius felt his heart ache and his eyes water as the voices of two of his dearest friends filled his ears, soon followed by himself. He had completely forgotten about the tape. The image of a black box, similar to the walkman, sitting on Lily's chest while she laid on the couch, very pregnant with her head in James's lap filled his mind. He paused the tape and rewound it before placing the headphones back over Harry's ears.

"You're going to like this so much more than just plain old Christmas songs, Prongslet."

Harry watched as Padfoot hit the play button and he blinked a bit, confused as spoken words filled his ears instead of music. And then, as the words continued, he looked up at Padfoot, his green eyes getting wider and wider behind his glasses until they looked about ready to pop out of his head. He plopped his bottom down on the floor, holding the headphones tightly over his ears, pressing them closer so as to be able to not miss a single word that was being said. These were his parents voices, and his Paddy's. His mother began singing, a lullaby that felt like it was older than time itself and Harry listened, his heart soaring. They had made this tape for him. Especially for him and for no one else.

…_... _

"I don't think he's turned it off since." Sirius told Remus at lunchtime, both of them peering into the living room. Harry was sitting on the floor with his back to them, headphones large on his small head, staring up at the Christmas tree while he pushed his firetruck back and forth across the carpet, slowly, as though distracted. He had donned his mother's old Snitch t-shirt over the scarlet Quidditch robes that were way too big for him. Remus had had to pin the sleeves back and the bottom up to keep Harry from tripping. Shrinking the robes had been suggested, but Harry had said no to that. He wanted to be able to wear them when he got big too.

Harry removed his hand from the firetruck and grabbed the Quaffle from beside him. He pushed it across the floor, making it bounce off of the wall and back to him.

"He's very quiet for a kid on Christmas Eve." Remus noted, frowning as he watched Harry bounce the Quaffle back and forth without so much as a giggle.

"Yeah… well, we still need to bake cookies for Santa." Sirius nodded and entered the living room. He sat down beside Harry and caught the ball at it returned. "Hey, prongs let."

Harry startled slightly, looking up at Sirius as though having just noticed his presence in the room. He paused the walkman and pulled the headphones down so he could hear him better. "Hi."

"You ok?"

"Mhm… Paddy? I really like this tape." Harry held up the walkman, a huge smile bursting onto his face and Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. Harry wasn't sad, he was just entirely immersed in the tape, that's all that was going on.

"I like it too, but if you listen to it for too long, you're going to wear out the batteries and we won't be able to get any until after Christmas because all of the shops will be closed. So how about we put it away for now and you can listen again at bedtime?"

"Aw, Paddy… I dun wanna."

"Well, I guess maybe we'll just have to bake cookies for Santa without you then. Lexie will be very sad that you aren't helping us." Sirius sighed heavily, leaning his chin into a hand and Harry frowned. He looked between the walkman and Sirius before taking off the headphones. He carried the walkman over to the window seat and place it down there where it would be safe and then grinned.

"I dun want Lexie to be sad. I'll help." Harry pushed the sleeves on the scarlet robes up higher, but Sirius reached down and tugged them up, off of Harry.

"Let's not ruin these, mkay? But…" He extracted the snitch t-shirt from inside of the robes and brought it down over Harry's long sleeved grey shirt. "There."

"Yay!" Harry smiled, glad to still have one of his parents' things on. He watched as Sirius flung the robes over the back of a chair and a knocking came upon the door. Sirius went to answer it and Harry trailed after him, curious as to who it could be.

A woman stood outside the door, looking hurried. Her car was running in the driveway and she bounced from one foot and then the other before breathing a sigh of releif as the door finally opened.

"Hi, my name's Patricia Monroe, I'm Hermione Granger's teacher?"

"'mione?" Harry brightened excitedly, peering out around Sirius's leg, searching for any sign of his friend. He didn't see her.

"Oh good, you do know her. Well, the thing is… I promised to look after her for a couple of days while her parents went to France for the Prestigious Dental Conference, they go every year around this time. Only, there's been a terrible snow storm down there. Power outages and such, and they won't be able to make it back until it blows over. Unfortunately, I have to be at the airport by five tonight to get to Dublin by Christmas and I have no way of taking Hermione with me. She received a package from this address today and I called her parents and they said she's stayed here before and I'm just wondering if…"

"We would be more than happy to have Hermione. She's a very dear friend of my Harry." Sirius smiled, noticing the blue hat pressed against the window of the car's backseat.

"Oh thank goodness, I cannot thank you enough. My mother was going to murder me if I didn't go home this year… um.. Well, I've got all of her things in the boot."

"I'll give you a hand." Sirius shoved his feet into his boots and donned his jacket. "Harry, you wait here."

The back of the car opened and Hermione slid out, having seen him coming. She wore a pink snowsuit similar to the red one Harry had and looked rather unhappy as she trailed up the freshly magic-snow-melted front walk, her purple otter clutched to her chest by mittened hands.

"Hi 'mione!" Harry beamed, jumping up and down as she came into the house. He closed the door behind her and watched as she flopped down on the floor to remove her snow boots.

"Hello Harry." Hermione forced a bit of a smile, but then it brightened as she tugged off her hat. Her hair was a mess of static and snow. "My mum and daddy are stuck in France for Christmas. But at least I get to be here with you instead of with Mrs. Crady next door. She's ok, but she smells like cats and overcooked cabbage."

"We're gonna make cookies for Santa with Lexie, so it'll be fun." Harry smiled, wanting to cheer her up. He knew he would have hated to have to spend Christmas without his Padfoot and Moony.

"Ooooo, I like making cookies." Hermione nodded and tugged off her mittens followed by unzipping her snowsuit and working her way out of it. Harry grinned and they got her snow clothes to hang beside his on one of the shorter hooks in the hallway. "I just hope Santa is informed of my relocation."

"Santa knows everything, but we can ask Moony. C'mon." Harry reached out, taking his friend's hand and leading her into the kitchen where Moony was setting out bowls of soup for lunch. He looked a bit surprised when two children entered the room instead of just one.

"Why hello there, Hermione! Where did you come from?"

"My parents are stuck in France because of a snowstorm and Miss Monroe is very nice but has other family obligations she must attend to and no extra plane ticket for taking me with her." Hermione explained, climbing into a chair where Remus had set the extra bowl of soup he'd just poured out for her. Harry sat beside her.

"Well, you know you're always welcome here. We love having you."

"Thank you, Mr. Lupin. I'm sorry if I've put you out at all."

"Never. We love you very much, Hermione." Remus smiled, stroking her hair as she brought a spoonful of soup to her mouth. She smiled, seeming to be feeling a bit better than she had been when she'd gotten here. "I love your dress."

"Thanks." Hermione beamed, patting her skirt. She was all red velvet, lace, and long sleeves, with a square collar in the front that had a picture of Rudolph on it. Her little white tighted legs swung back and forth, unable to touch the floor. "My mummy got it special for Christmas."

"Well, Hermione, I've put your things up in Harry's room for now. I figured you'd prefer to stay with him instead of in the big old guest room by yourself." Sirius smiled, coming into the kitchen still wearing his snow boots. He flopped down into a chair and began eating away at his soup.

"Sirius Black, you go take those boots off right now." A loud crack came from the living room and Lexie entered, hands on her hips. "You're tracking snow everywhere."

"Er, right." Sirius nodded, tugging off his boots and getting up to carry them back into the hallway where they belonged. Lexie grinned and reached out, hugging Harry from behind and kissing the top of his head.

"Who's ready to make some cookies?"

"Me me me me me!" The pre-schoolers chorus, bouncing in their seats excitedly. Lexie smiled and moved to hug Hermione as well.

"I wasn't aware that there would be two lovies to bake cookies with. It's wonderful to see you, Hermione! Will you be staying long?"

"My parents are stuck in France indefinitely."

"And Miss Monroe hasta go on a plane." Harry explained, slurping slightly at his soup. He beamed up at Lexie and then at Hermione, very glad to have two more people he loved here. "Are you staying all night, Lexie?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss spending Christmas with my favorite men. I was thinking about going to my cousin's, but she's newly married and wants to spend it alone with her husband." Lexie smiled and doled herself out some soup, sitting down to eat away at.

"What about your parents?" Hermione asked curiously, eating her soup with a bit more dignity than Harry was.

"Oh, my parents have been gone for a long time now." Lexie sighed, but then smiled. "But you guys are just as much my family as anyone else could be. So it's ok."

They finished eating their soup fairly quickly, getting all giggles when Remus accidentally placed his hand down too hard, whacked his spoon, and sent it flying into Sirius's forehead as he reentered the room.

While Sirius was nursing his bruise, Lexie got out the ingredients for the sugar cookies and began mixing them together, with the help of four smaller hands that liked to pour and stir whenever they could. But in Harry's opinion, the funnest part came when they rolled the dough out on the kitchen table and got to pick Christmas shapes to make the cookies into. There were reindeer, Christmas trees, Santas, stars, snowflakes, and sleighs.

Harry had a little trouble working the cookie cutter at first, but once he got the hand of it, it wasn't bad at all. Hermione was pretty good at it already and she showed him how to press the shape down into the flattened dough and then wiggle it around to cute it all around before lifting the cutter. Sometimes the cookie stuck inside of it and they had to poke it out, but most of it time it stayed right where it had been cut and they could move it gently from the table to the cooking sheet Lexie had placed there as well.

"Look at my reindeer, 'mione!" Harry laughed, holding up the reindeer he had accidentally broken the head off of. Hermione giggled and they watched as Lexie reattached the head to the reindeer, using a bit of water and gentle hands.

"You know, you're really good at being a mummy." Hermione remarked, admiring the way Lexie was able to fix the cookie with ease, just like her mummy was always good at fixing her messed up cookies when she did this at home.

"Thank you." Lexie smiled and kissed her floury cheek before picking up the full cookie sheet and placing it into the preheated oven. She added the second sheet next to it, and then a third on the bottom. They were going to have plenty of cookies to decorate in a couple of hours. First they needed to bake and cool.

"Wanna see the stuff Moony saved from my old old house when I was a baby?" Harry asked after a moment. Hermione nodded and the two hurried off up to Harry's room to play for a while.

…...

"I'm going to make mine have a red nose, just like Rudolph." Hermione announced, pinching a bit of red crystally sprinkles inbetween her fingers and letting them drop onto the nose of the reindeer she'd just covered in light brown maple frosting that Lexie had made from water, powdered sugar, and maple syrup. She'd made other colors as well, using food dyes and flavors. The yellow was lemon, the pink was peppermint, and the green was surprisingly orange flavored, which Harry and Hermione found to be hilarious when they tasted it. They also had white, blue, and purple, but those hadn't been flavored. They had all different sprinkles as well to help make the cookies even more beautiful.

"Do you like mine?" Lexie held up the plate shaped cookie she had made special for putting Santa's cookies out on. She'd decorated it with bits of white for snow flakes and blue trim. Harry and Hermione nodded.

"Ooooh, that's so pretty!"

"Did you make a cup for his milk too?"

"What do you take me for? Of course I did!" Lexie laughed, holding up the glass she had covered with dough and then baked. "But we have to keep the glass in it so that when we add the milk, it doesn't get all soggy before he gets here."

"Right!" Harry nodded his agreement. He always hated it when his cookies got too soggy and broke apart from being in the milk for too long. He liked to just dip them for a moment and eat them, otherwise he lost more cookie inside his milk than he got to eat.

"Alright, I think that's the last of them. Let's clear up for dinner and afterward, the frosting will be dry and we can eat some of these yummy cookies before bed."

"But not all of them 'cause Santa needs some too."

"Right."

…...

"…and merry Christmas to all and to all a good night." Remus finished, book in his lap, child on either side of him on the couch. They had decided to read tonight's bedtime story near the fireplace and the glowing tree. Santa's cookies were set out on the plate shaped cookie on the coffee table. Harry and Hermione had picked out their very best ones for him (after eating a few of their own of course).

Harry yawned and leaned against Remus's arm for a moment before Sirius scooped him up. "Ready for bed and sugar plums?"

"Mhm…" Harry nodded, yawning again and wrapping his arms around Sirius's neck. Remus lifted Hermione, half asleep, from the couch as well and they, followed by Lexie, carried them up to Harry's bedroom where Sirius had made up the bed.

Hermione, in her red and green plaid night gown went in first, snuggling down against her fairy tale covered pillow, otter's tail in one hand, thumb in her mouth. Harry followed, clutching onto his black Snuffles dog that he had taken to carrying around with him since he'd gotten it. He had an old kinship with it that made him feel very safe and even more so now, with his lion, dragon, and Hermione also in his bed.

Sirius tugged up the covers, Harry's lion blanket and Hermione's unzipped sleeping bag, to their chins, gave them each a kiss. They were out cold before Remus even finished winding the music box.

* * *

I really really like the way this one turned out. I wanted to incorporate each of the main adults and get that classic Christmas Eve feel that I love so much.

For those of you who are happy about Sirius and Lexie, yay! I really like them together to be honest, they're both bold and a little bit crazy. For anyone who doesn't like the idea of Sirius having found someone because they feel it'll take away from the Harry/Sirius dynamic base we've got going on now, don't worry so much. Do you think I'd let that happen? This is a story about Harry and Sirius (and Remus of course) getting the lives they've deserved and I honestly feel that denying Sirius a love interest would be an insult to his character. Lexie is here to add to the story, not take away from it.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoy how it came out. There's even a bit of an inside joke in here for you guys who have read The Future of the Past (see 'Quidditch').

And the cassette tape, oh Merlin the cassette tape... ANYWAY, thanks for reading and reveiw if you'd like, I always appreciate every single one I get.

Love ye alligators,

S.Q.O.


	26. Christmas

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Twenty-Six: Christmas_**

"PADDY! LEXIE! WAKE UUUUP!" Harry shouted Christmas morning, barreling in through his godfather's door to where he knew Padfoot and Lexie were sleeping. He ran over to the bed and jumped up onto it, bouncing his excitement. "Wake up! Presents!"

"Mr. Luuuuupiiin!" Hermione could be heard calling from upstairs and Remus groaned, obviously still very tired himself.

Harry dashed from the bedroom again and down the stairs, Hermione quickly following after him and into the living room where the Christmas tree was. They gasped, standing there in shock as they looked down upon the glorious wrapped and beribboned packages sitting beneath the tree. Harry couldn't even see the train Remus had put around it anymore!

Excited, but knowing he needed to wait for the adults, Harry bounced back into the hallway. "PADDY! MOONY! LEXIE! Huuuuurrrrry!"

"We're coming, we're coming." Sirius groaned, glancing up at the wall clock that said it was about six in the morning. He'd been up late making sure everything was where it should be. "Go ahead and open your stockings first."

Harry dashed back into the living room and with Hermione, over to the fireplace where five stockings hung from the mantle. They'd put them up the other day, adding Hermione's last night.

After a little bit of struggling with the fat stockings and some help from Lexie because the mantle was just so high up, Harry and Hermione sat down on the floor and tipped their stockings over, dumping them out into two piles of goodies. Candies spilled forth. Chocolate, candy canes, gummie bears, chewy caramels, and fat golden toffees. Harry found a toy dinosaur towards the bottom of his while Hermione had a plastic package of hair accessories in hers. Both toes contained oranges that rolled free and were forgotten within seconds of their discovery.

Sirius laughed, watching as Harry unwrapped a chocolate and shoved it into his mouth, not bothering with the concept of there usually not being candy for breakfast while Hermione sorted hers into neat little piles by flavor before placing them back into her stocking for safe keeping while she chewed away at a sugar-free caramel. He flopped down onto the couch, just enjoying watching the kids delight in their discoveries.

Once the stockings had been thoroughly gone through, Harry made his way over to the presents looking a tiny bit apprehensive. He knew there were presents here for Padfoot, Moony, and Lexie because he'd put them there, but what about him and what about Hermione? Had Santa gotten his letter? Did he know that Hermione was here instead of at her house?

All of his worries faded away when he sat down, grabbed the nearest package and found that it was labeled to him from Santa. He let out a squeal, holding it high in the air. "Paddy! Santa remembered me! He remembered me this time! He's never remembered me before."

"I knew he would." Sirius smiled, eyes shining as he watched his godson unwrap the first present he'd ever gotten from Santa that he could remember.

"He got my letter! Look! He got my letter! I got a train book! Just like I asked for!" Harry exclaimed, so very excited he got up and danced about in a circle for a moment before, unable to contain his four year old joy at having gotten something on his list. He grabbed up another package and read the name. "Hermione! Hermione! This one's for you! Santa didn't miss you either."

Hermione's eyes went wide and she rose from where she was sorting her stocking, moving over to sit next to Harry and take her package from him. Sure enough. To Hermione, Love Santa. "I wasn't sure if he'd be able to find me."

"Santa knows everything." Lexie smiled, coming into the room carrying a tray of coffee and cocoa. She set it down on the table and reached over to turn on the wizarding wireless before holding up the plate cookie. "Look guys."

"He ate the cookies!" Harry yelped, dancing again, pointing at the table. The cookies they had made, all of them, even the one shaped like a glass was gone. All that was left was a bit of milk in the bottom of the real glass and the plate shaped cookie that had a big bite out of it. "He was here, Santa was really here!"

"He defies all logic." Hermione nodded in agreement, hugging her package. "But he's magic, so that's ok." She sat down and tore the paper open now, letting out a happy squeal. "Ooooh! The newest edition of the Oxford dictionary! It has seventeen new words compared to the last edition."

"Well, that certainly is a very good present then. You'll know all of your words." Remus laughed, watching Hermione's delight as she opened the dictionary and flipped through the thin pages. The book was about half her size and it was very strange for a five year old to be so taken with the likes of any book without pictures, let alone a dictionary full of small print and millions of words.

Harry danced about, grabbing up package and reading the name on the front before tossing it down to grab up yet another, searching for his name. Here was another! Squealing, he flopped back down on the floor and tore the paper open, eyes wide. He had gotten TWO presents! TWO! That was more than he had ever received for any Christmas in his whole entire life that he could remember. The package was large and cylindrical. "Bubbles! LOTS of bubbles!"

"Wasn't that on your list to Santa, Harry?" Lexie asked with a laugh, smiling at the delight on Harry and Hermione's faces as they both admired the giant bottle of bubble solution.

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, beaming and getting up. He took both of his presents so far and set them on the window seat where they wouldn't get lost among the paper and then went searching through the packages again. Sirius rose from the couch and disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, returning with his camera, not wanting to miss out on a good opportunity to get pictures.

"There's probably more in there for the both of you." Remus suggested, rising to get down on the floor and help the kids look through the packages. He handed one to Hermione and another to Harry before sitting back on his heels.

"Quidditch pajamas!" Harry held up a pair of emerald green pajamas with a bronze talon on the front, the words Holyhead Harpies on the front. "That's Ginny favorite team." He remarked happily, remembering Ginny mentioning this on their way back from getting trees when she and Ron had gotten into an argument about whether the Harpies or the Cannons were cooler. It had been quite the battle between the two very opinionated preschoolers.

"That's my favorite team as well." Sirius remarked, smiling.

"And mine." Lexie agreed, admiring Harry's pajamas before he placed them beside his other presents on the window seat.

"Merlin!" Hermione exclaimed, holding up a plush doll and looking quite taken with it. "He's my favorite King Arthur character." She stated happily, hugging the wizard doll tightly while Sirius snorted.

"Looks a bit like Dumbledore." He whispered to the other two adults who agreed with tactful laughs of their own.

"A Snitch!" Harry just about screamed, jumping up and down, waving the small golden ball that he had just unwrapped and taken out of a box around in his hand. "A Snitch! A Snitch!" He did a little bit of a jig, unable to contain his delight. All of the other packages lay forgotten beneath the tree, his little heart soaring with delight at finally having his favorite Quidditch ball.

"Oooo, that's pretty!" Hermione stated, admiring the little ball as Harry held it out to her on his palm. The size of a walnut, it fit there perfectly, looking large in his hand. It's wings fluttered out and it floated up into the air, moving about the room at a gradual pace. It wasn't a real Snitch that one would use in a true game of Quidditch, but to Harry, it was as real as it got at the moment. He watched it soar about, eyes wide with pure bliss.

"Why don't you guys open the rest of your gifts?" Sirius suggested, a smile on his face, hoping he'd gotten Harry's look of triumph when he's opened the Snitch on film. Harry and Hermione laughed and practically dove back into the presents, looking up every now and then to see where the Snitch had gotten it. It stayed right in the living room, not straying too far at all.

Harry received just about everything that he'd written down on his list. A bright red tricycle had been hidden behind the tree and he'd unwrapped several plastic dinosaurs to join the one he'd found in his stocking. The only things Santa hadn't brought him were a Mummy or a pet, but he was just feeling happy to have been remembered at all this year. He'd also gotten several presents from Padfoot, Moony, and Lexie, as well as his friends. Paddy had given him an informative children's book about werewolves. Moony, a Muggle watch with hands to help him learn how to tell time, and Lexie a set of no-mix, no-mess paints. There was also a green knitted jumper from the Weasleys, a picture drawn by Ginny, and a box of candy from Ron. Hermione had gotten him a book about lions that he hugged her tightly for after she exclaimed over her bookmarks. Luna's package included cookies and an original Luna masterpiece made from clay and paint that had a note attached to say it was something called a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. And lastly, a pretty night light that shot stars on the ceiling from Neville. He had so many presents he could barely believe he was awake. It was positively astounding. Why, he had as many presents as Dudley normally did and that was saying something! It made him feel loved and remembered, just like little boys ought to on Christmas morning.

"Yours next Paddy!" Harry stated excitedly after they'd watched Hermione open the story book Ron had made her from parchment and ribbon. Harry snatched up the present he'd wrapped for Padfoot and carried it over to the couch, fulll of pride, already wearing his Weasley sweater with the H on the front.

"Oh! Thank you Harry!" Sirius smiled, opening the badly wrapped package and smiling as he pulled out a red dog collar complete with name and rabies tags. He stared at it for a moment before bursting out laughing. He reached out and pulled Harry onto his lap. "I love it Harry, thank you."

"Moony helped make the tags." Harry beamed, glad his Paddy liked his present. He'd had a hard time thinking of one for him.

"Yes, I did." Remus admitted, grinning at Sirius. "But it was all Harry's idea."

"Brilliant." Sirius grinned, and undid the collar, putting it around his neck and clasping it closed. "Fits great."

"Yeah!" Harry beamed and dashed to bring Moony his present, setting it in his lap and jumping from one fot to the other while Remus opened it.

"A razor and shaving cream." Remus blinked. "How thoughtful of you, Harry. This is a very handy gift."

"Paddy told Lexie you had a furry problem. So now you can shave it off." Harry stated simply, jumping up and down before Remus laughed and set his gift aside the hug the kid. It was an admittedly useful gift, even though it wouldn't actually help him around the full moon.

"Your turn!" Harry bolted and snatched up Lexie's present, carrying it over to the couch and sitting down next to her to watch her open It.

"Oh…I know this." Lexie blinked, staring down at the silver chain off of which hung a Golden Snitch pendant. She hugged Harry close with one arm.

"It was my mummy's. Moony said so, but I thinked you can have it, cause you're sorta like my mummy so now you'll look like her."

"Oh Harry." Lexie tugged him into her lap, setting the necklace down on the table and hugging him tightly. It was a very special gift, for him to give up something of his mother's when he had so little. "Thank you very much. I'll keep it safe and sound."

Harry smiled, burying his face against her neck before she let go of him and got the necklace around her neck. She, Sirius, and Remus exchanged gifts, and then Remus disappeared into the kitchen while harry and Hermione played with their gifts and Sirius and Lexie watched them.

"Harry, it looks like we missed one of yours." Remus's voice floated out of the kitchen and he came back into the living room. "It's a very special gift from Hagrid. Santa must have told him what else was on your list, because Hagrid knows much more about these sorts of things than even Santa does."

Harry looked up from where he was blowing bubbles, trying to get them to chase after hi Snitch and dropped his bubble wand, mouth agape. Remus was holding a cage, and inside, sleeping, was a small snowy owl. He stepped forward, his eyes wide as he stared at the baby owl, unable to believe what he was seeing. He even reached up and rubbed at his eyes for a moment just to be sure this was real before he shot forward and reached a finger through the bars of the card to stroke the baby owl's feather's.

"Wow. An owl. A real owl." He said, awestruck. Remus set the cage down on the coffee table and opened the door. The baby owl opened her amber eyes and gave a small hoot, looking around the room before hopping foreward, out onto the table. She let her eyes wander from one person to the next before decidedly hopping up and onto Harry's shoulder. She gave a tiny nibble on the top of his ear and then closed her eyes again, burying her head beneath a wing to continue sleeping, apparently very content around humans already.

"Let's see…" Remus took up a note attached to the cage and read. "Dear Harry, thought you might like this owl as Santa told me you'd like a pet this year. She's twelve weeks old and very smart. Hope you like her. Love from, Hagrid."

"I love her." Harry beamed, stroking his owl affectionately before turning his head to give her wing a kiss. She was a very beautiful owl with lots of markings on her snowy white feathers, indicating that was she definitely a female.

"What will you name her?" Sirius asked, loving the way Harry seemed to adore his owl already. He knew that some kids got pets and then wrote them off after a few days, but Harry was different. He was affectionate and kind, and Sirius knew, looking at him right now, that that owl would get so much love she wouldn't know what to do with it.

"Hedwig. Like in the history book Moony showed me." Harry stated firmly, having been read a bit of the book the other day to see if he was interested in history. It had been boring, but he had remembered and liked the witch called Hedwig.

"That's a fine name for an owl, Harry." Remus beamed, glad he remembered the name at least. Harry smiled, happy that the name was good and he sat down on the floor, stroking Hedwig and giving her kisses every now and then, completely distracted from the rest of his presents now. It had been the most wonderful of Christmas mornings, he thought.

…...

"Where're we going?" Harry asked a bit later, after they'd eaten breakfast and had cleaned up the wrapping paper that had scattered the living room. He and Hermione had been bundled up into snowsuits, after which, Hedwig had propped herself back onto harry's shoulder. She really seemed quite taken with him, like she knew he was her little wizard. Harry had wondered at her getting cold outside, but Remus had assured him she'd be fine. She was a snowy owl, he said, built to endure cold temperatures even at her young age. She was old enough to hunt on her own already, or at least, his book on owls said so.

"Someplace special." Sirius smiled, climbing into the backseat next to Harry's carseat while Remus and Lexie got into the front. Hedwig hopped down into Harry's lap where his little boy hands stroked at her feathers adoringly. He still couldn't quite believe that he had an owl now.

And so they drove, past snow covered moutains and fields, and London. They went for an hour in the car, Harry and Hermione keeping content with both owl and dictionary before the car finally stopped.

Owl on his head, Harry climbed out of the car after Sirius and Hermione followed suit, both of them looking around the the small square with curiosity on their faces. There was a small church to one side, and a long wall of names in the center of the square. Getting closer to the center of the square, Remus veered left, towards the church, and Harry blinked as the long wall flashed, changing from a long wall thing into a statue of three people. Before he could get a better look, Sirius ushered him forward, on in through a kissing gate.

Harry blinked, looking around. Thjere were stones everywhere… tombstones. This was a cemetery. He'd never been in one before, but he had seen one before on his way to school and home every morning and afternoon. Moony had said it was were people buried their dead loved ones.

Feeling a little bit weird, Harry reached a hand up and grabbed hold of Sirius's before reaching out his other to Hermione who took it, looking around quite curiously. They followed Remus through the snowy ground, watching as he led them past row after row before seeming to find what he was looking for and veering off to the right, heading towards a large marble headstone.

"Here we are then, harry." Sirius smiled and let go of his hand, pressing him foreward towards the tombstone. He looked back before doing so, Hedwig hopping curiously down onto his shoulder.

Potter…. That was the name on the people on the headstone. James and Lily. Harry blinked and stared at the headstone before reaching one tiny hand out and pressing it flat against the stone between their names, his eyes watering.

Sirius knelt beside him and took his free hand, rubbing his back, tears in his eyes as well. "We came to say happy Christmas to your parents, Prongslet. Is that alright?"

Harry nodded and fell to his knees. He let go of Sirius's hand and leaned himself up against the headstone, snuggling against it. This was where his parents' bodies were. He was closer to them than he could ever remember being, and it made him feel nice, to know they were so close. "Happy Christmas, Mummy. Happy Christmas Daddy."

"Happy Christmas guys." Sirius smiled and raised his wand. Christmas fairy lights and a wreath fell onto the tombstone from the tip of it, spreading out and making it look even prettier. Harry laughed and turned in the snow, moving his small gloved hand through it until he'd spelt out the words 'I LOVE YOU' in the fresh bit of snow next to the tombstone.

"Thank you Paddy." Harry smiled, looking up at Sirius and raising his arms to him. He was very glad that he'd finally been able to come and see his parents and make sure they had a nice Christmas too. It was a wonderful feeling, and as Padfoot picked him up, he blew a kiss down to the stone.

They didn't leave Godric's Hollow right away, but rather, just the cemetery. Sirius carried Harry through the street while Hermione sat upon Remus's shoulder's, Lexie gripping Sirius's free hand. Hedwig had relocated onto harry's head once again, finding it more stable when moving than little boy shoulder's that were always being hugged.

They strolled down a snowy lane, making their way along the quiet road until they reached a house whose roof was partially collapsed on one side. The grass was overgrown, poking out of the snow.

"And this is where you used to live." Sirius stated, reaching out to place a hand on the iron gate he remembered so fondly. They had had a lot of good times in that house.

"It's the house from the picture." Harry noted, remembering the photo they had at home of his parents moving in for the first time. He smiled, admiring it before frowning. "Why's it broken?"

"Same reason you've got that scar on your head, mate." Sirius explained, hoping that Harry would be able to understand from that. He was only four after all, but he had been told of why he had the scar.

"Oh." Harry nodded. "Can we go inside it?"

"It's not safe to go in. The roof could fall on us, but I wanted you to see it anyway."

"I like it." Harry confirmed, admiring his ol house with a bit of sadness. So that was where he'd lived before the Dursleys, back with his mummy and his daddy. It looked like it had been a very nice little house. "Can't we fix it?"

"I've already tried." Remus admitted with a sad sigh. "I'm sorry Harry, but because it exploded due to dark magic, there's not much to be done for it. I've done everything I can to try and fix it, but it's like your scar. It's never going to fully disappear, so your old house is never going to be able ton be fully repaired."

"Oh." Harry frowned and Hedwig nibbled at his ear, not seeming to like wit when he got sad. He giggled a bit, reaching up to pet her.

"Have you had a nice Christmas, though harry?" Sirius asked concernedly, hoping the house hadn't put a damper on it.

"Mhm." Harry nodded, beaming up at him. "Best Christmas ever."

…...

Later that evening Harry and Hermione were sitting on the living room floor, playing with their newest toys, Hedwig hopping about on the floor, watching their movements curiously. She'd never seen bubbles by the way she was chasing after them every time one of the kids blew one.

"Hey Paddy? Can we use Hedwig to send a letter to Ronnie?"

"Sure. I don'[t think that'd be too far of a journey for her." Sirius smiled and grabbed some parchment and Harry'[s crayons off of the side table. He handed them to the kids and they began scribbling.

"I'm gonna tell Ronnie that I like the sweater his mum made and the candy."

"Can you really send him a letter with an owl?" Hermione asked curiously, having finished her own letter thanking Ronnie for the lovely homemade story book.

"Yep. We get the newspaper every morning from an owl." Harry confirmed, smiling and signing his letter. He put it on top of Hhermione's and rolled it into a scroll like he'd seen Padfoot do many times before. They worked together to tie it shut and then onto Hedwig's leg, which she held out, standing very still and looking quite proud of herself at this greatest of oppurtunities to become a mail owl.

Once the letter was tied on, Harry pushed open the window above the window seat. It swung out, rather than moving upwards, and Hedwig burst out of it, flying up into the air and across the lane. She disappeared from sight just as a car pulled into the driveway.

A tall man and a woman got out of it, and Hermione shrieked, running from the living room and into the hallway where she flung open the front door and ran out into the cold in just her tights and dress. "MUMMY! DADDY!"

"Hermione!" Jean caught up her daughter and hugged her close. "Miss Monroe called to say you'd been dropped off here."

"You made it in time for Christmas." Hermione beamed, hugging her mother around the next before she was transferred into her father's arms halfway up the front walk.

"Hello! Come in, come in." Sirius called from the doorway, harry smiling as he stood beside him, glad Hermione's parents weren't still stuck in France.

"Daddy, you dwon't believe it. Santa knew I was here and you have to see what he brought me. And Lexie and mr Lupin are making Christmas dinner right now in the kitchen, and Harry and I were playing."

"That sounds loverly my dear." Mr. granger smiled, kissing his daughter's cheek and setting her down once they got into the house and had closed the door. He shucked off his jacket and boots and followed his daughter into the living room to see what she had received from Santa.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, jean?" Sirius asked, taking her coat and hanging it up on a hook while harry chased after Hermione and her father.;

"Oh, we wouldn't want to impose… you've already done so much. Thank you, for taking care of Hermione. I felt so much better knowing she'd at least be spending Christmas with Harry rather than being stuck in Ireland with a bunch of folks she doesn't really know."

"She's always a pleasure to have." Sirius reassured her.

"Please impose!" Lexie shouted, sticking her head out of the kitchen. "Otherwise there will be enough turkey here to last a month. Sirius, I don't know what possessed you to get such a big bird."

"I like turkey and I wasn't sure how much you guys would eat." Sirius admitted with a laugh. "Please stay, jean."

"Well, alright."

"Whoohoo! We'll have a real proper Christmas dinner now!" Lexie cheered and disappeared back into the kitchen. "Merlin's pants, Remus don't use that on the stuffing!"

A great clanging came from in the kitchen and Sirius winced. "I'd better…" He grinned sheepishly and headed into the kitchen. "Merlin's beard, how in the name of Dumbledore did you manage that?"

"I haven't the foggiest."

Sirius stuck his head back out of the kitchen door, a metal mixing bowl on top of his head. "Dinner might be a bit longer than expected, can I interest you in a drink?"

"Um…"

"I've got them!" Lexie pressed Sirius aside and came out into the living room bearing a tray of drinks which she set down on the coffee table. "Sparkling apple juice for the munchkins, and wine for the rest of us."

"Sounds delightful." Mr. Granger smiled and accepted the glass he offered her.

"Daddy look, the new edition of the Oxford dictionary." Hermione stated happily, dropping the huge book into her father's lap. She grinned and turned around to look at Harry who was sitting on the window seat, waiting for Hedwig to come back.

"Harry, did Hedwig come back yet?"

"No." harry shrugged. He knew Hedwig would be back. Owls were very smart like that. He slid down onto the floor to look through his dragon book while Hermione showed her dad the new words in the dictionary.

"Ok, I think we're all set. Everyone to the dining room." Lexie said after about half an hour. Harry watched as the Grangers rose and made their way from the living room. He got up to follow them, but a small hoot distracted him and he turned around to find Hedwig waiting at the window. He smiled and pressed it open to let her in.

Hedwig swooped into the room and landed on the window seat, another roll of parchment attached to her leg. Harry undid it and smiled when he found Ronnie had written a note to both him and Hermione in crayon.

Tired out from the day of excitement, Hedwig took to the perch in her cage, sipping at her water and snuggling up under a wing. Harry gave her a pet and then ran to show Hermione the letter. This truly was, the best Christmas ever.

* * *

Hey guys! I'm so excited to have finished this particular chapter, because I love Christmas. It's always been a particular favorite bit of mine that Hagrid gave hedwig to harry as a present, so I didn't want to ruin that and had her still be a gift from him, just a lot earlier. Also, I'm getting a little tired of having to repeat this fact, but James Potter WAS a Chaser. Rowling said so. The movies portrayed him as a Seeker simply because Harry is a Seeker. James merely stole the Snitch in the fifth book because he wanted to fool around with it, not because he was a Seeker. I do actually know my Potter facts.

Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter as much as I LOVE it. Lemme know what you thought, and as always,

Love you crazy crocodiles!

S.Q.O.


	27. Moony

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Moony**_

Harry sat up in his bed as the loud howl of the werewolf sounded throughout the winter night air. It had been a few days since Christmas and about twenty eight days since he'd heard the werewolf howl, though he hadn't been counting. It was another one of those nights when Sirius and Remus had had to go out and Lexie was staying with him, though she slept in Sirius's room now instead of the guest room. She was here a lot more than she used to be, a fact that Harry was quite happy with because he loved her very much.

The werewolf howled again as Harry slid out of bed, his footed pajama covered feet hitting the carpeted floor very quietly. He moved around his bed and over to the window where the world outside was pretty bright for it being the middle of the night. The sky was a very dark blue, but the full moon was large, shining brightly in the sky while the white snow below glistened in the yard. Harry felt a twang in his heart whenever the werewolf howled it's lonesome howl. Last time he'd heard the werewolf, Lexie had said that it was sad. He didn't like that the poor werewolf was sad…. Lexie had also said that werewolves weren't bad, just misunderstood.

Pondering it over in his four year old brain for a few moments, Harry decided he wanted to help make the werewolf feel better. Maybe it would feel better if it had something to play with or a book to read?

Harry grabbed the flashlight from beside his bed and turned it on, looking around his bedroom. He grabbed a book from his bookshelf, one about animals that Moony had given him. It was a really nice book with lots of pretty pictures and plenty of words to read. He was sure the werewolf would like it. But how was he going to carry both the flashlight and book?

An idea occurring to him, Harry left his bedroom with the book and went into his playroom where he dug into his toy chest. Aha! His toy headlamp with the changing colors, this would be perfect for seeing in the dark and holding the book at the same time.

Knowing he mustn't wake Lexie, Harry tiptoed from his playroom and down the stairs, carrying the animal book under one arm, headlamp in the other. He pulled on his snowsuit, zipping it up with ease. He'd gotten much better at getting the awkward suit on. He shoved his feet into his boots and then tugged on his hat. He struggled a bit with his mittens, usually needing help to get them on.

Mittens firmly on his hands, Harry put the headlamp on over his hat and picked up his book, heading from the hallway to the kitchen. The werewolf wasn't in the front yard, but rather, beyond the back garden.

Harry unlocked the back kitchen door and pressed it open, being very careful not to let it slam as he closed it and the screen door, behind him, a feat which was quite remarkable at his young age.

Harry made his way across the back garden illuminated by the moon on the snow and his headlamp. He knew that the whole of the back garden was surrounded by a fence, but that there was a gate way at the very back of it. He wasn't sure about the latch on it, but he had to try. The werewolf howled again, sounding so very sad… He had to try and cheer it up.

The fence was tall, at least to Harry it was. It actually was only about five feet, but at Harry's short stature, that was quite large. It took a couple of minutes for Harry to locate the gate in the back corner of the fence, but he did it, knowing it had to be either there or in the other corner.

The latch on the gate was a sliding one, the kind that had been on Harry's old cupboard under the stairs at the Dursleys. He knew exactly how to undo it, but it was high up, so he'd have to figure out how to reach it first.

Gazing around the garden, Harry ran back to the patio and grabbed up one of the plastic chairs still sitting there next to the plastic table. He dragged it, quite easily, over to the gate where he was able to climb up onto it (he had to set his book on the ground to do so) and slide the latch free.

Smiling at his success, Harry climbed down off of the chair and pressed at the gate. It was stuck in the snow, but with a couple of good shoves, Harry was able to get it moved forward enough so he and his book could slip right on through, which wasn't very much considering he was just a skinny four year old in a snowsuit.

The world beyond the gate was as big as it was from Harry's window! The snow stretched on across the hilly land, mostly treeless and clear of any footprints. Even as Harry walked, any trace of him remained unseen, for the snow had thickened on top into a crusty shell, making his light weight unlikely to crush foot prints into it unless he were to slip and fall. Thankfully though, Moony had placed a lovely non-slip tread spell on the bottom of Harry's boots, tired of watching the poor kid struggle when the walkway was covered in ice and he hadn't had the chance to go out and melt it yet.

Harry traipsed across the snowy land, sparkling in the light set off by the moon in the cloudless sky, led by the howls the werewolf let out fairly often, always sounding quite forlorn. He hugged the book to his chest, not wanting to lose it.

After walking for fifteen minutes, Harry stopped to rest, sitting down on the snow. It felt like he had been walking for forever and still, no werewolf, though it's howlings were getting much louder than they had been originally. Harry turned, looking back and he could barely see the cottage in the dark, mainly due to the moon glinting off of the roof, but all of the lights on this side of it were turned off. Hopefully Lexie was still asleep. She would probably be worried if she woke up and Harry wasn't there. Perhaps he should have left her a note?

Having rested enough, Harry got back onto his feet and started walking again. The howling was getting much louder now, and he was starting to feel a bit nervous, but Lexie had said the werewolf was just sad. And when someone was sad, well, Harry thought maybe it would be better to try and cheer them up instead of letting them stay sad. That was what his Padfoot and Moony did when he was sad, wasn't it?

Hey, there was the old garden shed that Padfoot had moved a while back! Wow, Harry couldn't think of why Padfoot had wanted to put the garden shed so far away from the house that one could barely see it, but that was a grown up for you. They were quite strange sometimes.

The werewolf howled again and Harry jumped. He was so very close now! It was like the werewolf was right inside the shed.

Picking up his pace, excited now, Harry got closer and closer tom the shed. Just as he was about to reach it, the door flew open, and a great, monstrous creature loomed out of it.

The werewolf was huge, towering over little Harry. It had long, pointed claws and horrendous gnashing teeth as it tilted it's head backwards and let out the loudest howl Harry had ever heard. He stepped back, finally frightened now that he had found it.

A black dog came barreling out of the shed after the werewolf and Harry stared in shock. A big black dog? Why, that was his Padfoot's animagus form! But, that dog couldn't be his Padfoot, could it?

The werewolf spotted Harry and let out a growl, stepping towards him like he'd just spotted a tasty treat. Harry held up the book.

"I… I bringed you…" His sentence was lost as the werewolf dove for him, but the dog was too quick. It slammed itself into the werewolf's side, sending him off course, landing five feet away from his intended target.

Harry screamed and stood there, too terrified to move as the werewolf grabbed hold of the dog and flung it away from him, returning it's gaze to Harry. It lunged again, but let out a loud yelping howl as the dog sunk it's teeth into the werewolf's ankle, causing him to falter and fall as he turned to try and kick the dog off of him.

The dog barked and growled at the wolf, getting himself between him and Harry. Harry backed up a couple of steps and tripped, falling to his bottom.

The werewolf was back on his feet. The dog spun around, transforming, arms raised out, grabbing hold of Harry as the werewolf lunged again, it's sharp claw's slashing Sirius's back just before he apparated with a loud crack, taking Harry with him, the book remaining forgotten on the ground.

"Harry James Potter, what the bloody hell did you think you were doing!" Sirius shouted once they had reappeared in front hallway of the house.

"I…I…" Sirius grabbed hold of Harry and shook him.

"You could have been killed! Do you understand that? You could have been killed!" Sirius faltered, staring at Harry, anger and fear all over his face. The little boy burst into tears. Sirius grabbed hold of him, tugging him to his chest, holding him so very tightly. "I could have lost you. Dammit, Harry. God fucking bloody dammit."

"I'm s-s-soooorrry!" Harry whimpered, not really over the shock of first the werewolf trying to kill him and then Sirius being so very angry. He had never seen Sirius get this angry, had never had him shout at him like that before. He had only been trying to help the werewolf, but he must had done something really bad, in order for Sirius to shout and look so scared and mad all at the same time. And Padfoot was one of the most fearless people Harry knew.

"What's going on? Sirius?" Lexie appeared at the banister, looking down at them. "Merlin's pants, you're bleeding!" She ran down the stairs, clad only in her night shirt.

"Where the hell were you!" Sirius shouted, letting go of Harry and spinning around to face Lexie who jumped back in shock. "I ran into Harry wandering around in the middle of the night! He found us! Moony almost killed him! How in the bloodiest of hells do you explain that? You were supposed to be watching him!"

"Sirius, he was sound asleep… Normally I hear him if he gets up to go to the bathroom or get water, but I've just been so tired lately I must of…"

"Oh you've been tired. Yeah. Wonderful excuse as to why my kid was out wandering in the middle of the night and almost got murdered by a werewolf! I trusted you to keep him safe, Lexie! Is that too much too ask? Is it too hard to keep an eye on a four year old? No, but you were soooo tired you couldn't even manage that!"

"Sirius Black, don't you dare yell at me when you're the one who sleeps like the living dead most nights!" Lexie shouted right back, hands on her hips, chin set as she glared up at Sirius. "It's not like I dressed him and sent him out there!"

"Isn't it!"

"I care about him just as much as you do, so if you think for one minute that I would…"

"Argh…" But at that moment, Sirius fell to his knees, wincing.

"We need to get you to St. Mungo's. We can discuss this later… I could heal you here, but I'm afraid werewolf caused injuries take a specialist who has worked for years dealing with them." Lexie said, grabbing hold of Sirius's arm and tugging him to his feet. "C'mon Harry. Harry?"

Harry whimpered, his eyes full of tears. He had his hands clutched over his ears as though afraid they might start shouting again and Lexie reached a gentle hand out to him. "Harry, we need to take Sirius to the hospital right away. He's hurt."

Harry nodded and took her hand but had to let go again so she could better help Sirius over to the fireplace. She grabbed the pot of floo powder and ushered Harry forward. She held him with one arm to her side while keeping Sirius up with the other. He had gone very pale and the back of his shirt was drenched with blood now. Obviously the adrenaline that had kicked in to save Harry was wearing off quickly. She dropped the floo powder and shouted. "St. Mungo's!"

The fireplaces wooshed by. Harry shut his eyes, hating this way of traveling but knowing it was necessary to go very far in a short amount of time.

They came to a halt and stepped out of the fireplace into the lobby of the very white hospital. Lexie led Sirius and Harry into the waiting area. "Harry, you sit and stay." Harry nodded, not wanting to get into any more trouble and went to sit in the closest chair.

The room was pretty quiet due to it being fairly late at night, but there were still a few people here. The lady behind the desk shot up to help Lexie with Sirius. "He's been slashed by a werewolf, Morena. We need to get him to Garnes, before he bleeds to death."

The lady called Morena conjured up a stretcher. "We need some help over here!" She called and three more Healers came running. They got Sirius face down onto the stretcher and took him away, unconscious, behind a pair of double doors and down the hallway.

Lexie sighed, watching them go and turned around to look at Harry who was crying again and looking quite like he wanted to be anywhere else but here. She held her arms out to him and he shot forward into them, burying his face against her neck as she lifted him up and sat back down in the chair he had been occupying.

"Is paddy gonna be ok?" He sniffled, tearing his face away from Lexie's neck and staring up at her.

" Well, he's hurt pretty bad, Harry. Werewolves have really sharp claws and when they slash someone with them, the magic makes it hard to close up the slash. But Padfoot is being looked after by the very best doctor who has seen much worse, so he should be ok."

"Ok." Harry sniffled, resting his tired head against her shoulder.

"Harry? What were you doing out in the middle of the night chasing werewolves for?"

"I wanted to bring him a book. Because he always sounds sad. Books always make me feel better when I'm sad." Harry explained with a yawn, quite sleepy but still too shocked from his ordeal to actually fall asleep.

"Oh. Well, while that was very thoughtful of you, Harry, you really must never, ever go anywhere near a werewolf during the full moon, because it can't control what it does. Do you understand?"

"Yeah…" Harry nodded. "Lexie, why did Paddy call the werewolf 'Moony'?"

"Well, Harry, I guess we were going to tell you sooner or later. That werewolf was Moony."

"But… Moony is nice and he'd never hurt me or Paddy!" Harry stated in shock, his green eyes going wide behind his wire rimed glasses. "He can't be a werewolf!"

"That's why we call him Moony. He's been a werewolf since another werewolf bit him when he was a little boy."

"But… can't the Healers fix his bite?"

"No, Harry. Being a werewolf isn't like having a cold that you can take medicine for and get better. There's no medicine that would stop Moony from being a werewolf, but thankfully he only has to change once a month, on the full moon. And then he's tired for a few days."

"Does it hurt him?"

"Yes." Lexie nodded, knowing it was better to tell him the truth than to lie about it. If she lied, well… Harry would be studying werewolves in school when he was older and he would know she'd lied. He had a right to know the truth after what he'd been through tonight. "But Harry, the important thing to remember, is that even though Moony is a werewolf, it doesn't mean he loves you any less. It's not his fault he has a bit of a problem, he's still Moony. Your dad used to call it his 'furry little problem'. He and Sirius stay away from the house and the village to keep everyone safe when he has to turn into a wolf. When he's a wolf, he thinks like a wolf and wolves are always hunting and looking for food. But that's one night a month. For the rest of the time, he's just a person who loves you very, very much. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Harry nodded and relaxed a bit more in Lexie's lap. He was really tired now…

…...

It was dawn when Harry woke up, the noise of the waiting room having increased now that it was light out. Apparently a lot of mishaps with magic were possible to have when you were trying to cook breakfast. Lexie had gotten Harry out of his outdoor clothes, not wanting him to overheat in the warm waiting room. He was left in just his footed pajamas.

"Lexie? Harry?" Remus appeared, limping and looking absolutely exhausted, his hair a mess. His robes were torn and dirty and he looked about ready to keel over, but he kept his distance, not sure as to what Harry would do or what he had been told. He was sure though, by the look on Lexie's face, that Harry knew. He could feel it. "Harry, I am so sorry."

"Moony." Harry smiled and reached his arms out to him and Remus heaved a sigh of relief, picking him up and hugging him as he took a seat next to Lexie. "Lexie said it's not your fault you're a werewolf." A couple of people nearby moved several more seats down.

"Oh, Harry." Remus hugged him tightly, so glad he wasn't scared of him like most people were. Normally when people found out he was a werewolf they would avert their eyes and move a couple of feet back, as though afraid he might suddenly try to bite them or something. But he'd never do that. He was only dangerous during a full moon.

"Excuse me, I couldn't help overhearing…" A woman a couple of seats down stated. "And I think, for the comfort of the rest of us, you should probably go wait somewhere else."

"It's not his fault he has a furry little problem!" Harry glared at her, sliding down from Remus's lap, his hands on his hips. The woman looked taken aback. "You… you be quiet! Or I'm gonna bite chu, cause I'm a werewolf too!" Harry growled and gnashed his teeth. He raised his little hands up and started towards the lady.

"Harry!" Lexie laughed and scooped him up by the waist. "He's always a bit cranky after the full moon. Isn't that right my little wolf pup?" Harry laughed and gave a bark. The woman rose completely from her chair and hurried across to room to sit at a much safer distance.

"Owans?" A man in Healer robes came out of the double doors Sirius had disappeared through hours ago. He snorted, looking Lexie up and down, still just in her night shirt. "Nice outfit, Owans."

"How is he, Garnes?"

"Well, he's no longer bleeding and we've gotten him patched up. Due to it being werewolf related, the wounds won't ever properly go away, but they will heal and he'll have some nasty scarring and we had to reattach some of the muscular tissue to his spine, but other than that, he should be fine. He's awake and should be able to go home after we run a couple more tests. There was a bit of fur in one of the gashes, so we're going to test that as well and see which werewolf is responsible for the attack so that if Black wishes to press charges he can."

"No need." Remus rose from his seat, arm raised.

"Ah, Remus Lupin. I didn't think it was time for your bi-monthly check in. Was this your doing?"

"Unfortunately." Remus sighed sadly, taking Harry from Lexie and shifting him to his hip.

"Well, you all can go in and see him now if you want." Garnes opened the door, and Lexie led the way down the hallway, her feet bare. "Owans, do you want to borrow one of my robes or some patient booties?"

"I'm fine, Garnes. A little skin never hurt anyone." Lexie waved him off and they headed upstairs to the first floor where everyone with Creature-Induced Injuries was kept.

There was a special ward here for dangerous bites, but also one for attacks, which was were Sirius was located. He hadn't been bitten, only slashed. They entered the ward. It contained Sirius in a bed at the far end by the window and a couple of teenage kids who looked as though they had irritated a whole tree full of bow truckles.

"Heeeey, there's my boy." Sirius smiled, sitting up and reaching his arms out for Harry. Remus handed him over and Harry happily snuggled up to Sirius, glad he was alright.

"Paddy, I was so scared you was gonna die."

"Me? Die? Never." Sirius laughed and cuddled Harry close to his side. He winced a little bit but bent his head down to kiss the top of those unruly black locks.

"Padfoot… I am so sorry… I never…" Remus started but Sirius held up a hand, shaking his head.

"Moony, I know you aren't yourself when you're in wolf form. It's not your fault. However, Harry you are officially grounded for a week for leaving the house in the middle of the night. No toy broomstick, no Burrow, and no rainbow colored baths."

"Yes Paddy." Harry nodded. He knew he had been wrong in what he'd done for certain now. Padfoot only punished him when he'd really done something bad. Normally it was just a time out thought. Not being able to play with his broomstick for a whole week? Boy, was he in trouble! "How come you didn't tell me Moony was the werewolf?"

"Well, I didn't want you to be scared. Werewolves aren't exactly thought of as being very nice creatures like fairies are." Sirius explained, letting out a groan as he shifted slightly on the bed.

"Oh." Harry nodded. He had been very scared when Moony had been a werewolf and had tried to eat him, but he wasn't a wolf anymore, he was human and Harry wasn't scared now. It wasn't Moony's fault at all. "I dun like it when you're scary, Moony."

"I know, Harry." Remus smiled and lifted him up off the bed to give Sirius a bit more space to sink into. "I don't like being a werewolf at all, but there's nothing that can be done to help it, so we're just going to have to do our best to deal with it, ok?"

"Okay!" Harry smiled and hugged Remus about the neck, kissing his cheek. He loved his Moony very much. "Hey, Moony?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Can you just not try to eat me again?"

"So long a you stay in the house at night unless one of us grown ups says otherwise, then yeah, I think I can promise that I won't try to eat you again."

"Ok, good." Harry nodded and hugged him again before wriggling to get down. "Can we go home now?"

"Soon. Padfoot needs to stay for a bit longer."

"Awwwww…."

…...

Several hours later Sirius was released from the hospital under strict instructions that he was to remain in bed unless absolutely necessary. They didn't normally release werewolf slash victims so soon, but since he would be under Lexie's watchful eye, Garnes had okayed it. He had to take three separate, disgusting potions every morning and night and have a special balm rubbed over his wounds every six hours.

"This is ruddy ridiculous. All because I got a little scratched up." Sirius groaned as he was transported from a stretcher to his bed.

"Sirius, they had to reattach some of your muscular tissue. It's not just a little scratch. Damn, Remus. You have some sharp claws." Lexie stated, giving Sirius a pat on the cheek and placing a bowl of soup in front of him on a tray.

"I know. I've seen what they can do." Remus nodded, looking down at his hands as though expecting his fingernails to have elongated and gone all pointy. "Believe me, I know it's not pretty… Sirius, I'm still really sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yeah. Stop apologizing. I think this is around the eleventh time you've said you're sorry. Don't worry so much, I'll be fine." Sirius smiled and sipped at his soup, wincing as he leaned forward over the bowl. "Argh…"

"I'll help!" Harry hopped up onto the bed and took the spoon from him. He dipped it into the soup, blew on it rather hard (most of the soup went from the spoon back into the bowl) and then brought it to Sirius's mouth.

"Thank you, Prongslet. You're such a good helper." Sirius smiled and stroked his hair back from his eyes. It was getting quite long and could probably use a trim soon so that Harry could see past his fringe.

"I'm just so sorry." Remus said again and Sirius grabbed up a pillow and chucked it at him.

"One more time, and I swear, Moony, it won't matter if I'm injured, I will get out of this bed and noogie you so hard you won't feel bad about it anymore."

"Right." Remus forced a smile and left the room. He started up the stairs, Lexie trailing after him to make sure he was ok. He still looked pretty put out.

"Remus? Where are you going?"

"To pack my things. I can't live here anymore. It's just not safe. Not for Harry, not for Sirius, not for you when you're here. I'm a monster and I should live by myself, away from people so I don't do anymore damage." Remus stated, tugging open the hall closet to look for the boxes he had used to move here in the first place. Hmm, maybe he could just use an extension charm on one of his bags and put everything in it…

"Remus Lupin, don't you dare ever think like that." Lexie shooked her head, glaring at him. "There hasn't been a single problem up until now. Harry knows it's not safe for him to go out at night now. And Sirius doesn't care that he's hurt. We'd all be really sad if you left, especially now."

Remus blinked, turning to look at her and she bit her lip. "What d;you mean… 'especially now'?"

"I…" Lexie sighed and leaned forward, whispering in his ear. When she pulled back, his eyes were wide and he shook his head as though trying to clear it for a moment before he burst out grinning.

"You're kidding. There's no way that…"

"No, I'm serious." Lexie shook her head, her face set. "Honest."

"Merlin's pants!" Remus shouted, and he hugged her, dancing about in a circle for a moment before he stopped, looking more grim than he had before. "I really need to leave."

"No… please… I haven't… I haven't had to chance to tell Sirius yet and I really need your support right now. I don't know what he'll think." Lexie bit her lip again, eying the door at the end of the hallway apprehensively.

"Well, then, let's go tell him." Moony grabbed her hand and led her down the hallway, but she paused, halfway there.

"I can't... I just… I only think, I'm not for certain if… I was wondering if maybe you'd help me? I can check at my office."

"'course I will." Remus smiled happily and hugged her again. "But don't you think we should tell Sirius?"

"What if he doesn't… I mean, he already has Harry. And he hasn't been out of Azkaban for very long… I'm sure he just wants a regular life right now. "

"Lexie, trust me. Sirius is going to be thrilled." Remus laughed and headed over to the door, peering in. "Hey, I've got to head out for a bit and Lexie's got some stuff she'[s got to do. D'you think you guys will be alright for a little while?"

"I'm Dr. Potter." Harry grinned, spooning more soup into Sirius's mouth.

"We'll be good, mate. I'm well looked after." Sirius smiled and Remus nodded, heading back out into the hallway.

"Alright, well, Dr. Potter has Sirius in good hands. So let's go do what we've gotta do."

* * *

Booyah, another one! Some of you have been wanting more conflict, so this came to mind. I hope you like it, it's particularly one of my more favorite chapters already. The ending is a bit choppy because I didn't want to give away the surprise, however, you've probably already guessed correctly as to what's going on. Anyway, I hope you liked it! Lemme know what you thought, and as always,

Love you!

S.Q.O.


	28. New Year's

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Twenty-Eight: New Year's.**_

"Are you ready?" Sirius asked as he sat down on the sled he'd fashioned out of an old cookie sheet that he'd transfigured. He'd enlarged it and made the sides bend up as well, getting it perfect. A piece of string was attached to the front. He was feeling much better than he had been after four days of resting in bed. His back was still scarred, but at least the wounds had healed shut and the pain was more of a twinge than anything else. It still really hurt sometimes, but at the moment, he was much too busy to think about his back.

Harry nodded and climbed into the sled, fitting snugly into it with his legs crossed, Sirius's wrapping over them and holding him even more in the sled. "I never sled before, Paddy."

"Well then this should be quite fun. It's like flying, only without the lack of gravity." Sirius explained, not even knowing if Harry knew what gravity was.

It was New Year's Eve and they were up in the Weasley's orchard, sledding down the large hill it was located on and down into the garden. They were having a pre-party sledding party with all of the Weasley kids plus Luna who seemed to find the idea of flying down a hill on the metal trash can lid she'd arrived with to be one of the most enthralling things on the planet. She and Ginny were small enough to share the lid, sitting facing one another with their little hands clasped to keep themselves from falling off for as long as possible. Though they didn't cry when they fell, they just rolled and laughed.

Sirius pushed off and Harry let out a shout that was a mixture between fright and joy. He'd never gone sledding in his life that he knew. The wind rushed at his face, the hair that wasn't covered by his winter hat flying. The speed of the sled picked up, the woosh and shloosh of snow beneath them. Sirius veered the sled away from hitting Fred and George who were dragging their sled back up to the top of the hill. The sled hit a bump and Harry let out a yelp of shock when it landed again safely.

As they neared the bottom, it got even faster. They hit another bump, but weren't so lucky this time. The sled lost balance and Sirius and Harry were flung from within in, rolling the rest of the way down the hill, sled slipping down ahead of them until it stopped about ten feet away further than they had gone.

Harry sat up, covered in snow, it cheeks red, eyes open wide in shock. Sirius shot up to comfort him, but the second Harry's mouth opened, he knew he needn't. The little boy laughed, rolling on the ground holding his stomach. "That was the funnest thing ever, Paddy! Again! Again!"

Sirius laughed and scooped Harry up under one arm, the sled under the other and traipsed back up the hill, Harry squealing the entire way. He was so thrilled with this newfound winter game that hen wouldn't have minded if winter could stay forever.

They went down the hill until it grew too dark to be safe, though it was only around four o'clock.

"We'll see you lot in a bit." Sirius called, waving from the top of the hill as he, Harry, and Luna watched the Weasleys head back into the Burrow to changed out of their wet things so they could go the New Year's Eve party Sirius and Remus were having. Harry was very excited about the party, because he would get to spend a lot more time with his friends and they were going to get to stay up late, late, late! After bidding Luna and her daddy goodbye, Sirius and Harry made for home.

"What d'you think, Harry? Will you be able to keep your eyes open until midnight?" Sirius asked, hoisting Harry up onto his shoulders as they headed across the orchard and then down the opposite, shorter slope that was across from their house.

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, beaming. His little body was raging full of adrenaline from sledding and excitement about tonight. Cheeks red, eyes bright with life, Harry was set down in the hallway of the house, covered in snowy mess.

After getting out of his wet snowsuit and changing his clothes to something a bit less damp, Harry ran about the downstairs, running circles from the hallway, to the living room, into the kitchen, the dining room, and then back to the hallway, Hedwig chasing after him. His socks slipped and slid on the wooden hallway floor as he veered around the staircase and into the living room, his arms above his head. He ran at the couch, floomping over the arm and into it with a plumpf! He giggled loudly, hugging one of the couch pillows for a moment before he sat up and began jumping up and down on the couch.

"Harry! Potter! Harry! Harry! Potter! Harry! Potter! Harry! Harry! Potter! DUMBLEDORE!" Harry shot off the couch for the figure standing in the doorway of the living room. He hadn't even noticed the doorbell ring!

Harry hadn't seen Dumbledore very many times, but he knew he always had something sweet in his pocket for Harry. Padfoot and Moony spoke of the old wizard fairly often, making Dumbledore's name recognizable to the four year old.

"Hello Harry." Dumbledore smiled, stooping to get down to the young bouncing boy's level. Harry bounced in place, unable to calm down. "And how are you this evening?"

"I went sledding with Paddy and we're having a party and I get to stay up til midniiiiiiight!" Harry suddenly shot off like a rocket, half running, half bunny hopping a circle around the living room before stopping back in front of Dumbledore who gave a chuckle.

"Well that all sounds wonderful, Harry."

"Are you gonna stay?" Harry asked, still more excitedly. "Moony says we're gonna have snacks and butterbeer! I dunno what that is, but Paddy said it's the best best best best beeeeest drink ever!" His eyes grew wide, as though the very idea of the unknown drink had him wired. "And Ronnie'n'Ginny'n'Luna'n'Neville'n'mione'n'n'n'n'n'n…. And… and… Miss Tricia and Mister Xeno and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Bill'n'Charlie'n'Percy'n'Fred'n'George."

"Dun forge' me."

"Hagrid!" Harry laughed, running around Dumbledore to Hagrid who had just squeezed himself in the front door. He saw Hagrid once a month or so, usually the morning before Sirius and Remus had to go out. He knew now it was because Hagrid would bring something for werewolf-Moony to eat, but he still liked seeing him.

"Hi Harry. How's yer owl?"

"She's good!" Harry beamed and pointed to where Hedwig was sitting on the mantle, having perched there when Harry was bouncing. "She takes letters to Ronnie'n'Ginny'n'my Luna -sissy. I love her better than trains."

"Which is a lot, because Harry really loves trains." Remus laughed, coming downstairs and holding out his hand to shake Dumbledore's and then Hagrid's. "We're glad you could make it. Is Minerva coming?"

"Yes. She's been delayed grading some tests, but she should be along shortly." Dumbledore smiled, offering Harry a lollipop from his pocket as the little boy continued to bounce.

"Thanks!" Harry unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth. "Who's Minerva?"

"Professor McGonagall is a teacher at Hogwarts, Harry. She used to give Padfoot and your dad detention all the time. That's like a time out."

"Why? Were they bad?"

"Not bad really…. Just a little out of control." Sirius smiled, peeking out of the dining room.

"You were more than a little out of control, Black." The door shut and a tall witch stood there. "I saw you all in here and figured it pointless to knock." Harry retreated, hiding himself behind Sirius, clinging to his leg.

"Minnie! So glad you could come." Sirius beamed and Professor McGonagall heaved a sigh.

"Black, if you call me Minnie one more time, I shall give you detention in your own house. Ah… Harry Potter." She leaned down a bit, tilting her head to see better behind Sirius's leg. Harry bit his lip, staring up at her apprehensively. He wasn't sure to make of this particular witch. She pulled a small tin out of her pocket and opened it, offering it to him. "Biscuit?"

Harry reached his hand out, taking one. He bit into it, smiling when he found it to be one of the better biscuits he'd ever had. "Thank you, Professor McGooglegul."

Sirius snorted, unable to help himself. Harry's mispronunciation was both adorable and hilarious, though he was trying very hard to be respectful.

"You're welcome, Potter." Professor McGonagall handed the tin to Remus who led them all into the living room.

"Oh! Hello Professors, Hagrid." Lexie smiled as he came into the living room, carrying Harry's stuffed lion under her arm. "Hey buddy, come here a moment?"

Harry dashed from where he was still stationed behind Sirius and over to Lexie.

"Harry, I'm really sorry but I… I accidentally knocked Lion off the shelf and onto the stove." Lexie frowned, holding out Harry's Lion, half of him completely burnt looking and soggy.

Harry blinked, lollipop falling out of his mouth, the remaining half of his biscuit hitting the floor as he took his lion from Lexie. He'd been playing in the kitchen with his toys earlier and Remus had picked them up off of the floor and set them on the spice shelf so as to keep them out of the way.

"Lion…" Harry's eyes welled with tears and he fell to the floor, wailing at the sight of his beloved Lion all burnt up and wet.

"I tried to fix him, but I'm no good at transfiguration spells." Lexie sighed. "I'm sorry, Harry." She held out her arms, going to pick him up, but Harry lashed out at her, whacking her with his poor lion and running from the room.

"Harry!" Sirius chased after him. He caught him up halfway up the stairs. "Harry… I know you're upset, but you don't hit."

"Lion…" Harry whimpered, holding out his lion to Sirius. "Fix him?"

"I'll try, Harry, but I dunno… he's burnt up pretty badly…" Sirius sighed and then smiled. "But, you know, I know someone who is even better at transfiguration than I am."

"You do?"

"Mhm. And lucky for us, she's already here." Sirius snuggled Harry and carried him back downstairs and into the living room. He took his lion and held it out to Professor McGonagall. "D'you mind? It's his favorite."

"Hmmm…" Professor McGonagall took the lion, looking it over. "It's very badly damaged, but I think…" She set the lion down on the coffee table and took out her wand from her pocket. She pointed it at the lion and a blast of blue light flashed from it, hitting the lion squarely in the chest. It glowed a moment. "Ah, yes, I believe that's done the trick now."

Smiling, McGonagall picked the lion back up and held it out to Harry who stared at her in astonishment. His beloved Lion was all better! A good as new, maybe even better than new! He took it from the Professor and then flung himself out of Sirius's arms at her. She caught him, looking quite surprised at his change in attitude.

Harry hugged her around the neck, beaming. "Professor McGogglegul is the best at transfiguration!" he confirmed, laughing and hugging both her and his lion at the same time.

"I would hope so, considering that's what she teaches at Hogwarts." Dumbledore said with a chuckle, watching as his old friend tried to figure out what to do with the little boy. Having never had any children of her own due to an unfortunately short lived marriage, McGonagall was better adapted for dealing with children a bit older than Harry was.

"Hogwarts!" Harry exclaimed, shimmying to get down as the doorbell rang. His feet hit the floor and he ran, Lion above his head. He tugged the door open and let out a squeal. "Hi!"

The Lovegoods beamed and entered the house, stomping the snow off of their boots.

"Harry!" Luna laughed, hugging him even though it had been only a couple of hours since they'd last seen one another. Harry took her hand and led her into the living room, closely followed by Tricia and Xeno.

The adults greeted one another and then the doorbell rang again. Boy! The house sure was filling up fast tonight!

Sirius ran to get the door and let the Weasleys in. "Hey! So glad you could make it."

"Thank you for inviting us, Sirius." Mrs. Weasley smiled and handed him a huge dish. "I've made some shepard's pie, I didn't want you to have to worry so much about dinner."

"Oh, thanks! This'll be great, we're feeding an army tonight." Sirius smiled, accepting the dish and carrying it to the kitchen.

"Would anyone care for a drink?" Remus called as he skirted between Fred and George who had raced around him. "We've got butterbeer or apple juice or if you want something stronger, Firewhiskey. Dinner should be done here in a couple of minutes."

"I'll have a fire whiskey, Mr. Lupin!" Charlie called, raising his arm over his head.

"No you certainly will not." Mr. Weasley laughed, ruffling his son's hair and ushering him forward. "Oh! Hi there Dumbledore."

The party was nice and very fun, Harry thought. He was surrounded by a lot of nice people and he had his Ronnie, Ginny, and Luna-sissy. When it was time to eat dinner, they all gathered around the table in the dining room, which was different because they normally ate in the kitchen. Harry knew it was a special occasion though. They'd eaten in here on Christmas as well. The kitchen table wouldn't have been big enough to hold them all either, it only had six chairs around it. And even now, Remus had had to put an extension charm on the dining table and duplicate some of the chairs to accommodate all of their guests. Harry happily sat between Ronnie and Ginny with all the other kids down one half of the table, the adults sort of sticking to their own half so they could talk to one another better.

The food was good too. They had Mrs. Weasley's shepard's pie, chicken, baked potatoes, cranberry sauce, and green beans. For dessert, everyone got a warm piece of blueberry or treacle pie which was Harry's favorite.

After dinner, the children were sent upstairs to where Harry's playroom had been set up with a table of snacks, including butterbeer. Bill and Charlie had been placed in charge of the younger ones, a task they were alright with, being used to doing so at home anyway.

"Who wants to play a game of Simon Says?" Bill suggested.

"Yeah!" Harry shouted excitedly, bouncing up and down as he had done earlier. He and the other younger kids gathered in a line across the room while Bill stood in the front. He would be Simon first.

"Alright then. Simon says to rub your belly with your right hand… No Luna, that's your left hand, the other one." Everyone began rubbing their tummies, giggling. "Simon says stop. Simon says everyone jump on one leg… Stop. Ginny, I didn't say Simon says, you're out."

"No!" Ginny complained, sitting down on the floor sadly, but she smiled after a moment, excited to just watch the game. She wasn't very good at it yet, still being only three.

They continued to play until Ronnie was the only one left standing. Apparently he was the champion of Simon Says at the Burrow too, so none of the Weasleys were the least bit surprised when he won.

They feasted upon butterbeer and chips with dip for a while, playing other games. Harry had done Musical Chairs, Red Light Green Light, and Who Took my Bone? at school, but he had never heard of some of the wizarding games.

The Weasleys taught him how to play Gnome in the Hole, where he had to find the garden gnome they set loose in the room.

"Over there!" Ronnie shouted, pointing the small, potato-like creature as it darted beneath Harry's toy box.

Harry and the others bolted after it, Bill and Charlie laughing at their antics while Percy looked on from the chair in the corner, not seeming at all pleased with this particular game. He'd done alright with the other few, but then he'd sort of gotten bored and decided to sit down with a book he'd brought down with him.

"I'll get him!" Harry called, laying down flat on his belly and shoving his small hand beneath his toy box, groping for the gnome. It bit his finger and he yelped, pulling his hand out as the gnome laughed and bolted from beneath the toy box, running in the opposite direction.

The kids scattered, having lost sight of the gnome. Fred spotted it next, let out a shout, and slide fast across the foam puzzle floor, trying to grab hold of it as it ran. He missed it by his fingertips and George dove as well.

"Gotcha!" He raised his hand high in the air, only to find it empty. "What? I had him! I had the little bugger!"

"I got him!" Harry laughed, holding the gnome up in both of his hands. He'd snatched it from the floor as George had gone for it, giving the gnome nowhere else to go.

"Good job, Harry!" Bill smiled and took the gnome from him, replacing it in the small cage he'd brought it in. The gnome yawned and flopped down on the fluffy bed made out of a small doll's blanket.

"What time is it?" Percy asked, looking up from his book.

"About ten thirty." Charlie answered, glancing at his watch and sitting down on the floor.

"Wow!" Harry's eyes went wide. He'd never been up that late before without having been to bed first and that was usually only so he could go potty. "How much longer til midnight?"

"An hour and a half. Think you lot'll make it?"

"Yeah!" The preschoolers cheered, raising their arms in the air. They were wired on butterbeer and lollipops form the snack table.

Thirsty, Harry went over to the table and picked up the bottle of butterbeer with his name on it. He chugged at it and then set the bottle back down on the table. It was delicious, his favorite thing after treacle pie. "Hey Ronnie, wanna color?"

"Okay." Ronnie nodded and he and Harry sat down at the paper and crayons that had been set out on the floor. The drew for a little while. Harry put the finishing touches on his Hedwig drawing and then looked up. "What time is it now?"

"Ten forty five. An hour and fifteen more minutes." Charlie replied, bending down to scoop Luna up off of the floor. She had fallen asleep next to the toy chest, a dinosaur in her hand. "One down, Bill."

Harry watched as Charlie carried Luna over to the opposite side of the room where he placed her down in the large red beanbag chair. He covered her with a blanket.

"We're not gonna fall asleep, are we Ronnie?" Harry asked.

"Nope." Ronnie shook his head and pounded on his chest with his fists. "We're big boys. We can do it."

"Yeah!" Harry beamed and began coloring again. Around eleven, he was distracted by a thump and looked up to find Ronnie had slumped over on the floor. He'd been sitting with his legs crossed, but now his head was down on the floor, butt in the air, orange crayon in his hand. "Ronnie?"

"Two down." Bill sighed, coming over and picking Ronnie up off of the floor. He placed him down in the beanbag next to Luna.

Harry looked around the room. Luna and Ronnie were fast asleep now. Percy was slumped in the chair with his book falling half out of his lap.

"Harry!" Ginny bounced over holding Harry's toy broom. "Harry, ride withs me? Puh-ease?"

"I not apposed to ride inside." Harry frowned and looked around. He stood up and reached out, taking Ginny's hand and pointing over to his pedal train. "Let's do that."

"Okay!" Ginny smiled and bolted over to the train, dragging Harry along behind her. She climbed onto the train and Harry got into the car.

"Choo-choo!" He laughed, raising his arm and pretending to tug the whistle. Ginny began to pedal, steering the train by the handles around the room.

"Chugga-chugga-chugga choo-choo! We is the Hogwarts Express!" Ginny laughed, ringing the bell. Percy jolted a little at the noise, but he didn't wake.

Harry and Ginny rode around in the train for a while, eventually switching places so that Ginny could 'rescue' some of Harry's other toys and place them in the car before getting in with them.

Harry chugged along, pedaling round and round the room, not noticing when Ginny stopped contributing to the choo-chooing until the playroom door opened.

Padfoot peeked into the room and smiled. Percy as half falling out of the chair. Ronnie and Luna were snuggled up together on the beanbag. Bill and Charlie were playing cards in the center of the room. Fred and George slumped against one another beneath the snack table, their mouths opening and closing to breath at the exact same rate. Harry was chugging his pedal train along, Ginny fast asleep, curled up among the toys in the train's car.

"Hey guys."

"Paddy!" Harry beamed, jumping off of his pedal train and racing over to him. Padfoot picked him up and snuggled him.

"Well, aren't you a little trooper? We've only got about three minutes til midnight. Would you like to come downstairs and ring it in with us? Bill? Charlie?"

"Yeah!" Harry laughed and Bill and Charlie dropped their cards. They all headed downstairs to the living room where the adults were hanging out. It looked as if they'd been playing card games as well. Bottles of butterbeer and fire whiskey were spread throughout the room. Hagrid sat in one corner with Remus, both of them swaying and singing, though it was too garbled to really understand.

"There's my boys." Mrs. Weasley smiled, holding her arms out for Bill and Charlie, who, though they were 13 and 11, went to her and curled up on the couch on either side of her, allowing her to wrap her arms around them.

"Everyone else tuckered out?" Mr. Weasley asked, reaching out a hand to brush Charlie's hair back from his face as he yawned.

"Yeah. Completely." Sirius nodded and sat down in the armchair with Harry. Lexie came over to sit with them, wedging herself into the armchair beside Sirius. Harry smiled, snuggling back against both of them.

Dumbledore and McGonagall sat on the window seat, discussing something about Advanced Transfiguration. They seemed quite spirited about the subject.

"Ah…" Remus said, halting his singing and pointing towards the clock on the mantle. The second hand was getting closer to the ten.

"Ten… nine…" Sirius began and the others joined in, everyone watching the clock and picking up party blowers.

"…two…one! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone shouted, Harry joining in a little delayedly, having never done this before. He blew hard into his party blower, making it toot loudly as Sirius and Lexie both leaned in to kiss his cheeks. He laughed, clapping his hands and tooting his blower again.

He had done it. He'd stayed up until midnight!

…...

"Yooou… should tell him." Remus swayed slightly as Lexie helped him up the stairs to his bedroom. "Teeeeell hiiiiim noooooowwww."

"Here we go, Remus." Lexie sighed, pressing Remus towards his bed.

"Tell… himmmmmm!"

She left the room and made her way back down to the second floor where Sirius was tucking Harry into bed. The little boy had conked out as their guests were leaving, finally giving into his body's need for sleep, the sugar high ending.

"Hey." Sirius smiled, pulling the covers up to Harry's chin as Lexie peeked into the room. He bent down and kissed the little boy's forehead before removing his glasses. Harry slept peacefully, his chest rising and falling with ease, a small smile upon his lips, as though he were already having a lovely dream.

"Hey." Lexie leaned against the doorway and yawned before entering the room and sitting down on the end of Harry's bed. She reached up and brushed some of his hair back before bending over to pick his lion up off the floor. She placed it down beside him and sighed. "I can't believe he managed to make it all the way to midnight."

"He's really something else." Sirius smiled and bent down to give Harry another kiss before offering a hand to Lexie. She took it and allowed him to pull her up off of the bed.

"Remus is going to have one hell of a headache in the morning."

"Yeah. It's the one night a year he really let's himself go." Sirius laughed, tugging Lexie from the room as he clicked off the light, leaving Harry to sleep with his music box playing and emitting it's normal magical light. "Well, we should probably get to bed."

"Yeah." Lexie agreed and followed him down the hall to his bedroom at the end. She paused a moment before turning to look back at Harry's ajar bedroom door. "Actually, I think I'm going to sleep with Harry tonight."

"Aw, and leave me all by my lonesome?" Sirius feigned pouting and then smiled. "Alright then." He gave he a quick kiss and then opened his bedroom door. "Good night, love."

"Good night." Lexie smiled and turned around, heading back into the little boy's room where she shifted him aside and cuddled up with him. Remus's words echoing in her brain.

* * *

Hehehe. I really like this chapter solely because it has McGonagall or McGooglegul, in it.

Now then, some of you are basically either really loving the idea of the end of the last chapter with Lexie's secret, or you are angry at me for even putting it in there. Now, we all know what's going on, it's pretty obvious. And I know most of you have your worries that this will take away from the Harry/Sirius relationship we've got going because every other Sirius/Harry story like this is all BAM girlfriend BAM Harry fades into the background and all the focus is on Sirius and this girl. I want to assure all of you nay-sayers right now, that I am NOT that kind of writer. No matter what I throw in, the amount of Harry/Sirius action will not suffer. When I write a story, I don't add things to have them take away from it, I add them to add to the storyline as a whole without sacrificing what has already been created. I'm building upon it, not tearing some blocks off of the tower. It would be cruel to never allow Sirius to fall in love simply because of Harry. It would be cruel for Harry to not have a strong female rolemodel in his life. And they both deserve to have a wonderful, loving, and fully complete family. Together.

Understand where I'm coming from now?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I particularlly love the image of Ginny falling asleep in the train car and of Fred and George under the table. Seems like something they'd do. Let me know what you thought if you want. All opinions are welcomed, especially if it's set so I can respond to you personally. I love interacting with you guys and really seeing what your thoughts are.

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	29. Family

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Twenty-Nine: Family_**

"Lookit, Moony!" Harry grinned, holding up the family portrait he'd done at school today. He was very proud of it. "See… there's you'n'Paddy'n'Lexie'n'Mummy'n'Daddy in the clouds up top. See?"

Remus smiled, looking in his rear view mirror at the drawing Harry was holding up. It was very cute indeed. "It's awesome, Harry. I love it. I think we should frame it and put it up on the mantle, what about you?"

"Yeah!" Harry laughed, clapping his hands together as they pulled into the driveway. He unbuckled himself and shot out of the car with just his drawing. Remus laughed, grabbing the boy's backpack from the back seat and carrying it into the house after him.

It was Monday, the seventh of January now. Harry had just gone back to school after being on vacation for the winter. He'd been excited to see all of his friends, especially Marny, who had become his favorite friend at school back at the beginning of the year. He was also fond of his other tablemates, Preston and Violet, but Marny was by far the funnest of the three.

"Moony, can'I have a snack?" Harry asked as he took off his boots and chucked them onto the tray beside the door that kept the rest of the hallway from getting wet and slippery.

"You know it's not snack time, Harry. It's lunch time." Remus grinned at him, scooping him up after he'd gotten out of his snow suit. "You head upstairs and change out of your uniform and then lunch will be ready by the time you're done."

"Okay!" Harry nodded and headed up the stairs. He liked this time of the day, when he didn't have to wear his silly school uniform anymore. He wasn't particularly fond of it, especially the tie.

Once he was changed into something better (jeans and a long sleeved, flannel shirt) Harry made his way back downstairs. Moony was standing in front of the fireplace.

"You have to tell him eventually. I mean, he's going to notice sooner or later…"

"I can't I just… Oh, hi Harry!" Harry blinked, peeking around Remus's leg to find Lexie's head sitting in the fireplace. Harry was getting used to seeing this. He'd seen Lexie's head in the fireplace a lot in the past week or so, but he hadn't seen her much at the house.

"Lexie!" He smiled and raced to grab his family picture from where he'd set it down. "Look what I made! Our family!"

"Oooh, Harry, it's wonderful!" Lexie beamed, glad he'd included her in his picture. "Did you have a lovely first day back to school?"

"Mhm. Me'n'Marny made a snowman. Are you gonna come over to dinner?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Oh… I…. I'm sorry, Harry. I can't. I'm very busy at work today, so I'll probably just go back to my place tonight."

"Ooooh… but Lexiiiie…" Harry pouted, heaving a sigh and flopping sadly on the floor. "You always work now."

"I'll come soon, I promise." Lexie swore, giving him a smile. "I've got to be going now. Give Sirius a hug for me, ok Harry?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. He could do that, he was very, very good at hugs. "I love you, Lexie."

"I love you too, sweetheart. See you, Remus." Lexie head disappeared and Harry sighed.

"Well, c'mon then, mate. Lunchtime." Remus ruffled Harry's hair and they went into the kitchen where there were peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with potato chips on the side waiting for them.

"Moony, how come Lexie dun come over no more?" Harry asked as he sipped his apple juice up through a fun straw.

"She's just been busy at work a lot lately, Harry." Remus explained as he took a bite of his sandwich, chewed, and swallowed. "People get sick a lot during the winter, so she has to work more. But I'm sure she'll come over to play again soon, alright?"

"Oookay." Harry sighed, stirring his juice with his straw before sipping at it again. He finished his lunch and slid out of his chair, placing his dishes in the sink like he'd been taught to.

"What've you got for homework today?"

"I gotta find something for show'n'tell." Harry smiled. He loved show'n'tell, making Tuesdays his favorite day of the week to go to school. He always had a blast sharing whatever toy he brought with his friends while getting to play with their's as well.

"What's this week's theme?" Remus asked, knowing it was encouraged, but not required, to bring a show'n'tell related to the week's theme.

"Family." Harry beamed proudly. "Miss Nancy said maybe we should bring pictures to show everyone our families, but that we dun hasta, but I wanna."

"That's awesome, Harry! You can bring pictures from summer, those have lots of family people in them, and of your parents if you want. We've got plenty. There should be some loose ones in the box in the living room."

"Awesome!" Harry bolted from the kitchen and into the living room. The box Remus had mentioned was where they kept all of the duplicates of the photos he and Sirius took. They had albums on the bookshelf as well, but since Harry's project required bringing in something, going through the duplicates would be much better than trying to get them out of an album.

Harry spilled the pictures out on the floor in a big pile, sorting through them. There were lots of pictures here from since August. The Christmas ones hadn't been developed yet, but Remus had said he was going to get to it this coming weekend, they'd just been really busy lately.

Harry sorted through the pictures, finding lots that he liked a lot. There were pictures of him and Sirius. Of him and Moony. Of all three of them. Lexie. All of their friends. There were so many! How was he going to choose just one or two? Hmm… maybe Miss Nancy wouldn't mind if he brought a whole bunch of them with him?

"How's it going, Harry?" Moony asked, having done the dishes and deciding to check on Harry.

"Moon, there's too many to pick." Harry frowned, sorting through them all.

"Hmm… well, it looks like you have a picture for each person, so maybe, instead, we should look for one picture that has everyone in it?"

"Oooh… yeah!" Harry nodded excitedly, glad for this idea. It would be much easier then bringing a bunch of pictures of a bunch of people.

In the end though, Harry was able to settle on two pictures. One from shortly after he was born with his Mummy, Daddy, Sirius, Remus, and Lexie, who he hadn't had a name for the first time he'd seen this picture months ago. They were all gathered around Lily's bed, smiling into the camera. The second was from the barbeque over the summer, with all of the Weasleys, and the Lovegoods, and the Longbottoms, who Harry counted even though he didn't see them often.

"Here… Immobulus." Remus tapped the photos with his wand, stilling the people in them from moving.

"Why'd you do that, Moony?" Harry asked curiously with a frown. He liked the moving wizard pictures.

"Well, Harry, you can't take a moving picture to Muggle school. But don't worry. It's just for tomorrow, and then after, I can take the spell off and they'll move again. Remember, no magic in front of Muggles."

"Oh yeah…" Harry nodded, not quite understanding why they couldn't do magic in front of Muggles. He knew it was a rule though, a very important big rule, because Remus and Sirius obeyed it too, so Harry had to as well.

Remus and Harry spent the rest of the afternoon looking through pictures. They kept the two they'd chosen off to the side, out of the mess so as not to lose them.

At around four, Sirius came home early, scooping Harry up from the floor and spinning him around.

"Paddy!" Harry laughed, hugging him around the neck excitedly. Normally when he worked, Sirius didn't get home until six. "It's not even dinner time yet."

"I know. We had an easy day, so they let me come home early to play with you." Sirius grinned at him, hugging him tightly.

"We found pictures for show'n'tell." Harry announced happily.

"Awesome!" Sirius smiled and kissed his cheek before setting him down. "Well, I'm going to go shower and I think maybe we should go out for pizza or something today, what d'you say, Moony?"

"Sounds good." Remus nodded, gathering up the pictures and placing away the ones they'd already looked at into the box. He didn't want them to get ruined.

"Yeah!" Harry jumped up and down, excited at this. Sirius ruffled his hair and then headed upstairs.

"Remus." Harry jumped as Lexie stepped out of the fireplace, clutching something tightly to her chest. She held it out to Remus who rose from the floor and accept it. He blinked, staring down at it.

"Wow, so that's?"

"Yeah. Right there… that little nugget of space…" Lexie pointed, her finger touching the paper gently. Harry tilted his head confusedly before dashing over and attaching himself to Lexie's leg.

"Lexie! You gonna come get pizza with us?" He asked excitedly, staring up at her in her Healer robes, all bright eyes.

"I… well, Harry, I dunno, I've got some more work I've got to get done." Lexie said, picking him up and hugging him. She kissed the top of his head, snuggling him close. Harry leaned forward, eyeing the picture she'd brought. It was black and white and fuzzy.

"Is that outer space!" Harry asked excitedly, his eyes large.

"No, Harry, that's er…" Lexie started but then Remus coughed and she set him back down on the floor. "So, what's with all the pictures, little man?"

"I gotta bring some for show'n'tell tomorrow." Harry explained, distracted from the 'space' picture. He picked the pictures he'd chosen out of the box off of the coffee table and held them up. "Lookit. I'm bringing these."

"Oh, I remember that day." Lexie beamed, sitting down on the couch and Harry climbed up, cuddling against her side as they looked at the picture. "You were about six pounds big and so very pink, Harry. With lots of black hair and big green eyes. I remember perfectly. That was a very busy night."

"It was?" Harry asked curiously, smiling at the picture.

"Yep. You can't see her, but your mummy and mine's other best friend, Alice, was in the same room. She'd just had her little baby too."

"Cool!" Harry laughed, smiling. "Is Alice nice, too?"

"Yes. She was very, very nice. But now she's really, really sick. But you know her baby."

"I do?" Harry blinked, staring at her in shock.

"Mhm. Neville's Alice's little boy. You guys almost have the same birthday. Neville's is the day before your's.."

"Oh yeah!" Harry blinked, nodding in understanding now. He had met Neville shortly after his last birthday and they had become fast friends stacking blocks. He hadn't known they had such close birthdays though, that was really neat! "I like Neville. He's nice."

"Yes, he is, Harry. Maybe we should have him over for a playdate soon?" Remus suggest, still holding Lexie's picture.

"Yeah!" Harry nodded excitedly, bouncing up and down on the couch. He would love to play more with one of his friends. He didn't play with Neville very much, but he knew they would have fun if he came over.

"Lexie?" Sirius blinked, coming into the room. He had changed out of his work clothes and was drying his hair with his wand, running a comb through it. He'd had it trimmed since Azkaban, so it wasn't horrendously long anymore, but it still skimmed his shoulders the way he liked it best. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"Sirius!" Lexie shot up from the couch, sidestepping to stand in front of Remus who shoved the picture up his long sleeve as fast as he possibly could. "I… er… I didn't know you were home already."

"Yeah… I got off early. Did you not want to see me?" Sirius blinked, looking confused. "What've you got there, Moony?"

"Nothing." Remus shook his head after glancing at Lexie who shook her head at him, brown eyes wide.

"No, I just, wasn't expecting you, that's all. It's a nice surprise!" Lexie smiled, stepping forward to hug him.

"Lexie was telling me about Neville, Paddy." Harry informed him excitedly, holding up his picture. "We have almost the same birthday! You never told me that."

"Oh yeah, that's right. You guys do have birthdays next to eachother, I'd forgotten." Sirius smiled, letting go of Lexie and scooping Harry up off of the couch to give him a proper snuggling.

"She has a picture too. Of outer space!" Harry nodded, hugging Sirius around the neck and giggling as his hair tickled his face.

"Really? That's cool! Can'I see it, Harry?"

"Mhm." Harry nodded, wriggling to be put down and he ran over to Remus, tugging at his sleeve. "Moony, show Paddy the outer space picture. You have it."

"Er… well…" Remus sighed and looked at Lexie who fell into the armchair and put her face in her hands. Taking that to be a 'yes', he removed the picture from his sleeve, handed it to Harry. Harry held it up to Sirius, over his head, ever so proud.

"See Paddy! Outer space!" Harry beamed, proud to be able to show his Padfoot the beautiful outer space picture. "Innit pretty?"

"Er… yeah, Harry, it's great." Sirius blinked, taking the picture from his godson and staring at it, flummoxed. This was no picture of outer space. He'd seen something like this before, not too long before Harry had been born in fact.

"Hey, Harry, wanna come get dressed so we can go out for pizza?" Remus asked, heading for the hallway.

"Okay!" Harry darted after Moony, excited for pizza, leaving Sirius and Lexie alone in the living room.

"Lexie?" Sirius blinked, his eyes glued to the picture in front of him. "Harry said this is your picture?"

"Yeah…" Lexie nodded, biting her lip and raising her face from his hands. She looked insanely nervous. "D'you um… see the little blip there? Towards the right side?"

"Yeah?" Sirius gulped, his eyes moving to stare at the little blip as she called it.

"That part is yours too…"

Sirius heard her. His eyes were glued to the blip… no. It wasn't just a blip… it was a… Sirius felt his eyes roll back into his head, but he didn't feel the flump of the carpet beneath him as he fell backwards.

"Sirius!"

"Paddy!" Harry ran into the room, his snowsuit half on, holding it up around his waist. He screamed as he spotted Padfoot sprawled out on the floor, picture in his hand. "Paddy!"

Lexie shot out of her chair as Remus came in, completely having expected this particular fainting spell to happen once Sirius figured out what the picture actually was. Lexie sat down, kneeling next to Sirius and patting his cheeks until his eyes opened.

Sirius blinked rapidly and sat up, rubbing at his head. He looked around, his eyes drifting until he caught sight of Harry's tearful face. "Oh, Prongslet. It's ok, I'm fine." He reached out, hugging Harry top him and drying the little boy's face with his shirt.

Harry hiccupped, sniffling. "I thought you died." He said, clinging onto Sirius tightly. He'd been very very frightened when he'd seen Sirius lying so still on the floor. He didn't ever want to lose his Padfoot like he'd lost his parents. He didn't think he'd ever be happy again if that were to happen.

"Harry, I'd never, ever leave you. I love you too much to do that." Sirius hugged him tighter, rocking him gently back and forth in his lap, knowing how Harry got sometimes when he was upset about losing someone. "As long as there are stars in the sky, we'll be together."

Harry nodded, cuddling up to him. He was glad that his Padfoot wasn't going anywhere. "I like you better alive."

"Me too. Let's keep it that way, shall we?"

"Yeah." Harry laughed, hugging around his neck again as Sirius rose from the floor with him. "Why'd you do that scary thing anyway?"

"Well, Harry. That was called fainting, and it happens sometimes when a person has low blood sugar or gets shocked by something they weren't expecting." Sirius explained, kissing his cheek to keep him reassured.

"Low blood sugar?"

"When you haven't eaten in a long time and get dizzy. But that wasn't the reason why."

"You were shocked?" Harry blinked, looking shocked himself. His Padfoot? Shocked? Wow! He'd never have believed that to be possible. His Padfoot was the strongest, most un-shockable person there ever was! It must be something super shocking in order for Padfoot to have been shocked.

"Well, Harry…" Sirius sighed, running a hand through his hair and not really knowing how to put it. He picked the picture he'd dropped up off of the floor.

"Outer space shocked you?" Harry asked with a laugh, admiring the picture again. It was a very good one of outer space, he thought.

"Harry, this isn't outer space." Sirius shook his head, sitting down on the nearby couch. "This is a picture of the inside of Lexie's tummy."

Harry blinked, staring for a moment before laughing out loud, hard. "Paddy! You can't take pictures inside! It's too dark… and it's inside!"

"Oh, no, this is a special picture made by a special magic screen that can look on the inside to see if anything is wrong with you. Like how they see broken bones. The screen can see inside Lexie's tummy."

"Is something wrong with Lexie's tummy? Is she sick?" Harry asked concernedly, turning to look over at Lexie with a worried expression on his face. He didn't like it when the people he loved were sick or hurt, even if he did get to play doctor when they were.

"No, Harry. There's absolutely nothing wrong with Lexie's tummy."

Harry stared, confused now. Why would they have a picture of Lexie's tummy on the inside if there was nothing wrong with her? "But…why…"

"Harry…" Lexie smiled and sat down next to them, reaching out a gentle hand to stroke his hair back.

"Because, you see this spot right here?" Sirius said, pointing to the blip on the picture.

"Mhm." Harry nodded, admiring the blip. He'd thought it was just a space that lacked stars.

"Well, Harry. That's a baby."

"That dun look like a baby, Paddy." Harry shook his head, making a face and patting his godfather's cheek gently. "I think he hitted his head, Lexie."

"Well, Harry. That's pretty much how babies look when they start out. Just a tiny little blip in the picture, but they grow and grow until they're big enough." Lexie explained with a laugh at his confusion.

"But… how did the baby get in you?" Harry asked confused more still. "Did it crawl down your mouth when you were sleeping?"

"Oh, goodness no, Harry." Lexie laughed. "You see…"

"It's magic." Sirius quickly shot out. "Special magic that I'll tell you more about how to do when you're older, because it's a special, very complicated spell."

"Ooooh." Harry nodded. Well, that made more sense than anything else he'd ever heard about babies. He'd heard of the stork of course, but that seemed silly now too, since he knew owls were usually the only birds that carried mail, at least, as fast as he knew. "When will it come out?"

"In August and then you'll be a big brother." Sirius beamed, hugging Harry to him and leaning over to give Lexie a kiss on the cheek, finally having had a chance to turn this over in his head. He was quite happy, even though he'd been shocked at first.

"A big brother!" Harry launched up, bouncing from the couch and jumping up and down around the room. "A big brother! I'm gonna be a big brother!" He laughed, so very happy at this news. He'd never been a big brother before. Sure, he had his Luna-sissy, but she wasn't really his sister. She was just his make believe sister, but this baby… he would be it's real big brother because it was going to be his Padfoot's baby… "Oh…"

Harry suddenly stopped his bouncing, eyeing Sirius with a frown. "But, Paddy… if you has a new baby, then what about me?"

"Harry, my heart has enough love in it for you and a new baby. Don't you ever worry about that. You are my boy, understood?" Sirius said, getting down off the couch and reaching his arms out. Harry ran to him, wrapping around his neck and hugging onto him tightly. "You will always be my boy. Even if I'm not your real daddy, you're my son. Forever and ever and nothing will ever change that."

Harry beamed, glad to hear that. Paddy had never really said it aloud before, that Harry was his kid, but he knew it for certain now. It was a forever kind of thing. Forever and ever.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Harry asked after a minute, turning his attention to look at Lexie questioningly.

"Well, we won't know that for a while yet. It's too little to see if it's a boy or girl. What d'you think, Harry?"

"A boy. Cause I wanna brother." Harry nodded happily at the idea of it. He liked girls well enough, but he did have a lot of fun playing with boys too. And Ronnie had all of those brothers… he'd like a brother too.

"Well, we'll see what happens then." Sirius laughed, swooping Harry up into the air and tossing him high before catching him gently as he came back down.

"How long til August?" Harry asked now, curious as to how long it would be until he was a big brother. "Is he gonna sleep in my room too?"

"A while. About eight months, but you know, it won't seem like very long once we get there. And no, I think we'll add a bedroom for him."

"Or her." Remus added from where he stood in the doorway, watching with a smile on his face. "You could always take my bedroom and change the guest room into a nursery though, instead of adding another room."

"Nah." Sirius shook his head. "In want to always be on the same floor as my boy. Right, Harry?"

"Right!" Harry laughed.

"Well, what about the playroom then? We could move it up to the guest room and make that the nursery. Though, it might be a bit far from the rest of us if he's up playing on the third floor…"

"We'll figure it out, Moony." Sirius nodded and kissed Harry's cheek gently, brushing his bangs back. "What d'you think Harry?"

"Can'I have that picture?" Harry asked, eying it, completely ignoring the talk of rooms while he was busy staring down at the picture now on the coffee table.

…...

"This is my Mummy and Daddy. My Padfoot, and Moony. And Lexie and me, when I was little." Harry announced as he stood before the class, holding up his picture so everyone could see. "My Mummy and Daddy aren't here anymore, so I live with my Paddy and Moony, and Lexie too." He handed the photo to Miss Nancy and then picked up his next one.

"This is the Weasleys. Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley. Bill'n'Charlie'n'Percy'n'Fred'n'George'n'Ronnie'n'Ginny. This is the Lovegoods. Miss Tricia, Mr. Xeno, and my Luna-sissy, cept she's not my real sissy, just my make-believe one. And that's Mrs. Lovegood and Neville, we have the same birthday and my Mummy knew his mummy and they knew my Lexie." Harry smiled, pointing to each person in turn. "And that's my 'mione. She likes to read." He pointed to the last person in the picture and then sent it down to Miss Nancy as well before grabbing up his last picture.

"And that.." He pointed to the blip. "Is my baby brother or sister. It's still growing inside Lexie, so it won't be here til August, but then I'll be a real big brother."

"Oh Harry! That's wonderful. You have a great big, beautiful family." Miss Nancy smiled and the class clapped, liking Harry's show'n'tell. Harry smiled and picked up all of his pictures, going to take his seat. He was proud of his show'n'tell. He was even more proud of what a lovely family he had.

* * *

Well, there you have it! I would like to point out, that even though Sirius has finally found out about the secret, that there is still a plethora of Harry action in this. Normally he gets shunted to the side once the chick gets preggers in fics like this, but alas, unfortunetly for you lot, you'll have to deal with more adorable little Harryness (being totally sarcastic since we all love little Harry). :3 I quite enjoyed writing this chapter. Please let me know what you thought, I love hearing from you and getting an idea of what your opinions are regauring what's happening.

Also, if any of you remember the beach chapter where Lexie first appeared, she told Harry a story about his mother. If you'd like to read that story in it's completeness, I've written it as a companion piece. It's called 'Dirty Spaghetti.' :3

As always, with love,

S.Q.O.


	30. Ice

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Thirty: Ice_**

"Hey, Moony?" Harry asked, leaning up against the car window curiously, peering out through the glass with interest.

"Yes, Harry?" Remus asked, peeking at Harry in the rearview mirror before returning his eyes to the road. It was Friday, two weeks after Harry and Sirius had found out about the baby Lexie was going to have. It had been a bitter cold past few days, leaving the guys cooped up in the house, trying to keep warm and unfrostbitten.

"What're those big kids doing?" Harry pointed a mittened hand out the window and Remus glanced over. There was a pond with a bunch of kids sliding across it on skates. He smiled.

"They're ice skating, Harry. It's a lot of fun. We used to go ice skating at Hogwarts in the winter, when the lake froze over."

"Oh. Can we go ice skating sometime too, Moony?"

"Sure." Remus nodded and turned right, heading down the lane that would lead to their cottage. He pulled into the driveway after a few minutes and Harry climbed out of the back, toting along his schoolbag. He slid across some ice on the sidewalk and laughed.

"Woohoo!" And then he fell, gently, into a pile of snow on the side and started laughing. "Wow Moony, skating is fun!"

"You'll do even better once you're on a proper lake with skates." Remus laughed, tugging him up.

…...

"Ice skating?" Sirius asked at dinner time, looking up from his soup to see Harry's eyes glued to him with pure excitement at the very idea of doing this new, cool thing. "Yeah, I suppose we could do that. It's been quite a few years since we've done that, hasn't it Moony?"

"Yes. Not since Hogwarts." Remus nodded and lifted it bowl from the table to carry it over to the sink. Both men watched as Harry tilted his bowl up and drank the remaining bits of onion soup before rising from his seat to mimic Remus's movements.

"How long since Hogwarts?" He asked curiously, once his bowl was in the sink.

"Er… well… hmm… It's been about seven years, I think. At least, since we skated." Sirius said after a moment of pondering and then he too, placed his bowl in the sink. He scooped Harry up, swinging him around for a moment before lifting him up onto his shoulders without any warning.

Harry squealed with absolute delight, really liking it when his Padfoot did this. It made him tall enough to reach his arms up and nearly touch the ceiling, but not quite. Maybe when he was a bit bigger he'd be able to touch the ceiling.

…...

"Here, Harry." Sirius said that Sunday, offering Harry a pair of black ice skates. Harry stared at them, eyes wide at the sharp shiny blades and the fact that they were his size.

"Paddy! Are we going skating?!" He asked excitedly, jumping up and down.

"You bet." Sirius laughed, swinging the skates up over his shoulder and reaching for Harry's snow suit. Harry dressed, super excited about this now. He couldn't wait to skate! This was going to be soooo fun!

Sirius smiled, helping Harry get his snowsuit tucked into his boots. It hadn't snowed in a couple of days, but it was better to be safe than sorry when it came to his Prongslet. He didn't want him getting any snowburn on his ankles if the snow went down into his boots.

"Are we ready?" Moony asked, tugging on his own hat and reaching for his car keys.

"Yes!" Harry shouted, jumping up and down and bolting out the front door before either of them. He dashed down the walkway to the car and tugged the back door open, so super excited about skating he could hardly contain himself. His mummy had skated… he wanted to skate as well.

When they got to the skating pond, Harry was bright eyed and bouncing in his seat. Sirius helped him out of the car and down to the ice where he and Remus each took a little foot and got a skate tied onto it the best they could.

"Alright, Harry. Now you wait a couple of minutes while Moony and I get our skates on, alright?"

"Okay, Paddy." Harry nodded and swung his legs back and forth on the bench, admiring the way his skates felt on his feet. He watched a few other kids skating along, it looked easy enough. They were moving just like a skimmer bug moves on the little fish pond that wasn't frozen over in the summer. Harry was sure he'd be able to do that too without any problems. After all, he could walk and run just fine.

"Alright, Harry." Moony smiled, reaching down to take one of Harry's hands while Sirius took the other. Together they hoisted Harry up over the snow and then placed him down on the ice while they stepped out on it as well.

Harry yelped as his feet started slipping and sliding. His right foot went backwards, his left foot went sideways and he went downwards, only to be tugged back up by Padfoot and Moony.

"It's a little tricky keeping your balance on the ice, Harry." Moony explained. "It's very slippery, but we'll help you. Try to keep your waist, knees, and ankles all straight and locked."

Harry wobbled , his feet still all slippy beneath him as he worked at getting his legs to stay up. Padfoot and Moony both tugged him upwards again, helping him lengthen his legs out so that he was standing firmly on the ice now.

"I'm doing it!" Harry said excitedly.

"Good job, Harry! Now just keep those legs and ankles straight. Don't move your feet yet."

"But, Paddy…. Everyone else is moving their feet." Harry frowned, watching as one child, not too much bigger than him, slid across the ice with ease. It made him feel a bit silly, to have to need help even to just stand up.

"You need to get your balance first, Harry. Skating takes practice, so be patient. You'll skate like the other kids soon enough."

Harry sighed. "But I wanna skate like them now."

"Patience, Harry." Moony smiled as he and Sirius began to woosh forward. Harry gasped as he began to move. He kept himself as straight as he could, his feet still a bit wobbly, but not as much as they had been. Sirius and Remus really did help at keeping him from falling. And this was fun… even if he couldn't skate like the other kids just yet.

"Woohooo, look at us go, Paddy! Look at us go, Moony!" He laughed, looking down at his feet as they slide across the ice. "Woosh, woosh, woosh! We're skating!"

"You bet your hippogriffs we are." Sirius laughed again, unable to help it when Harry was so delighted with everything like he was now.

After a bit of skating together, Moony let go so Sirius could start helping Harry move his feet more. Sirius bent a little, holding each of Harry's hands while Remus remained behind him in case he started to fall backwards. It was harder to get back up once you fell on the ice than it was to skate on it.

"Baby steps Harry." Sirius said gently, watching as Harry slid his feet back and fort, trying to slide across the ice without lifting his feet at all. He stayed in once place, just slipping and sliding back and forth. "Lift your foot just a little bit and then push forward with the other one. Just like walking, only slower and longer steps. You'll slide forward."

Harry nodded and looked from Padfoot's face down at his feet. He wobbled slightly, clinging tightly to Sirius's arms as he lifted one foot just barely off of the ice and then set it back down, pressing foreword. He slipped a bit, but mostly had the desired affect.

"PADDY! MOONY! I'm doing it!" Harry exclaimed as he lifted his other foot the same and pushed himself along, Sirius shimmying himself slowly backwards on the ice to make sure Harry could keep going forward.

"That's it, Harry! You're doing it!" Moony clapped as Sirius beamed, full of pride at his godson's progress. He wasn't perfect at it, but it was something more than what he had been doing.

"I can skate! I can skate!" Harry laughed, so excited as he pressed along, baby step after baby step, moving across the ice with his godfather's help. This was so much fun! "Can I try by myself?"

"I dunno as you're ready for that just yet Harry." Sirius admitted. "You haven't quite gotten your balance yet."

"Oh…" Harry frowned, stopping. "When will I get my balance?"

"It'll take a while."

"Hold on, Harry. I know what we can use so you can skate by yourself." Moony said after a moment. He skated away and returned very shortly with a couple of stacked on top of one another and tied together. "Here, see? There's a couple of other kids using them to help them keep balance while they skate by themselves."

Harry looked up and across the lake a little ways. Sure enough, there were a couple of younger kids pushing along milk cartons. And they were doing it on their own!

Excited, Harry reached for the milk cartons and Sirius held onto him until he had. Then he let go and Harry laughed, pushing himself and the milk cartons along.

"Look! I'm doing it! I'm doing it by myself!" He grinned up at them, so full of pride at being able to skate on his own with just the milk cartons to help it. It was a little like skating with Sirius.

"Look at you, Harry!" Sirius grinned, patting his hat covered head and watching as he skimmed about the ice. "Just stay far away from that sign!" He said, pointing to the wooden painted sign that had been stuck into the ice, indicating that past that point it was too thin to skate on.

"Okay, Paddy!"

It was then that it happened.

A couple of teenagers were shooting across the ice after a hockey puck, sticks in hands as they skated for it, each wanting it. Neither of them saw the little boy pushing the milk cartons because they were so concentrated on the puck.

"Look out!" Moony shouted, but it was too late.

One of the big boys bashed right into Harry's milk cartons and the little boy was sent backwards, sliding across the ice, clinging onto the milk cartons for dear life as he went almost as fast as the hockey puck.

"Paddy!" Harry yelped, shocked by the sudden change of speed. He fell backwards, still sliding as he let go of the milk crates, wanting to slow down.

"Aw man, sorry about that." The hockey players came to a stand still.

"I'll get him." Said the other one and he shot off across the ice but suddenly came to a stop as Harry, clad in his little red snow suit, slide right on past the sign….WARNING: Thin Ice!

"Harry! Don't move!" Sirius shouted loudly as he chased after Harry, stopping as he got nearer the sign, Moony and the hockey players at his heels. "Harry, stay perfectly still!"

Harry blinked. He had never heard so much fear in his godfather's voice before, except for that time he tried to bring werewolf Moony a book. He froze, having come to a stop a little ways past the sign. If Sirius was scared… this must be bad. Why wasn't he coming to get him?

"We need a rope." The first hockey player said after a moment and shot off across the ice again, heading towards the bank.

"Harry, the ice is thin there. If you move too much, it might break and there's water all under there." Moony explained. "We're going to get you, but just stay still."

"O-okay." Harry whimpered, frightened now. How much water was under the ice? Was it as deep as his bathtub? No… it had to be deeper. He couldn't swim without his floaties yet… let alone in ice covered water in his snow suit. "P-paaaaddy…" He called, reaching one little mittened hand out towards his godfather, forgetting not to move.

The ice cracked beneath him a little. It didn't take much. Harry had slid right out onto the thinnest bit of ice there was and even though he was small, even the slightest of movements could put him under.

"It's alright, Harry. We're going to get you, just stay still." Sirius called, feeling beyond helpless at the moment. He had his wand on him but they were surrounded by Muggles.

The hockey player returned with the rope, tying a loop with one end that Harry could put over himself so they could pull him back.

Sirius took the rope from him and tossed it towards Harry. "Harry, pull that over your head and around your tummy."

Harry leaned forward to grab for the rope, but then, as though in slow motion, the ice beneath him gave way.

Sirius watched with absolute horror, as that beloved child of his fell through the ice and into the freezing water below. He shouted and Moony had to grab hold of him to keep him from running forward.

"HARRY! HARRY!"

Harry's head bobbed up above the ice for a moment. "Paddy!" He garbled and then he went under again. His boots and snowsuit were acting like weights, making it even harder for him to pull himself up to the surface. It was dark under here, scary. The water felt like knives on his skin, trying to choke the life out of him as he thrashed about, trying to break free of it. His head did not bob above the surface again. The world went black.

When his godson did not reappear, Sirius did the only thing he could think of. Screwing all Ministry laws against Muggles being exposed to magic, he drew out his wand. He pointed it straight at the hole where Harry had fallen. "LEVICORPUS!"

Harry shot up out of the hole, suspended upside-down as though by an invisible rope tied about one ankle.

"Accio!" Remus shouted, and Harry shot towards them, limp and lifeless. Sirius caught the little boy, not caring as a little skate blade cut his cheek. He hurried with Harry over to the snow, setting him down flat upon it.

"Harry! Harry!" He patted his little boy's blue cheeks before grabbing up his wand again. He placed it before Harry's lips. "Adeo Aguamenti!"

Water from the lake shot up and out of Harry's lungs, spewing forth from his mouth and hitting Sirius in the face. Harry gave a raspy breath as his emerald eyes shot open. He gasped for air, staring up at Sirius slightly glassy eyed.

"Harry…" Sirius heaved a huge sigh of relief as he tugged the little boy up to his chest, holding onto him tightly. "Oh Harry."

Harry burst into tears, clinging to his godfather's jacket as Moony grabbed hold of both of them, kissing the top of Harry's head repeatedly. "It's alright, Harry. Shhh…"

"Holy shit. That was the coolest thing ever!" The first hockey player stated as he flopped down in the snow nearby. "He just… out of the water… and then… wow!"

"Er yeah…. Don't mention that. Ever." Sirius said after a moment of cuddling Harry.

"P-p-paaad-d-d-dy." Harry stammered, shivering something awful, his teeth chattering behind blue lips. Sirius quickly stood up, worried now, about his godson's well being. He was gout of the icy water, but he definitely was not looking so hot at all. His little body had been exposed much too long to the icy water and he was slowly tinging blue.

Without thinking about it again, Sirius shot out onto the ice, gave a great spin without warning, and disappeared with Harry with a crack.

Knowing where he was headed, Remus kicked off his skates and did the same, neither of them giving a shit about the Muggles all around them. Harry's well being was more important than any Ministry laws.

Sirius landed awkwardly in the waiting room at St. Mungo's and almost immediately fell over. He couldn't stay up on his skates on the floor here very well. Harry in his lap, he looked up at the shocked woman behind the desk. "He fell through the ice. He's turning blue. Hurry!"

The woman nodded and shot down the hallway, through a set of double doors. She returned as Sirius was removing his skates, a female Healer hurrying along behind her. Upon sighting Harry, shivering and now fairly despondent, his eyes glazed, panting, she snatched him up from Sirius's lap and shot back down the hallway, looking worried.

Sirius heaved a sigh, chucked a skate to one side and then took off after her in his socks just as Remus appeared a couple of feet behind him. He chased off after Sirius and they both followed the Healer down the hallway and up a set of stairs to the children's ward.

The Healer laid Harry down on a bed and began tugging off his clothes. "We have to get him warmed back up. He's hypothermic."

Once Harry was out of his sopping clothes, Sirius helped the Healer dress him in some pajamas and get him tucked into bed. The Healer ran her wand over Harry a few times, muttering to herself before she dug into the pocket of her robes for a vial.

She tilted Harry's head up and poured the potion down his throat, the dazed little boy just going along with it before he fell back against the pillows, still breathing rather heavily. Sirius watched as Harry's cheeks slowly began to regain a bit of color and the little boy closed his eyes, exhausted from his ordeal. His breathing slowed and steam began flowing out of his ears.

"Your son's going to be just fine. You got him here in time. He'll have to stay overnight for observation, but that's only precautionary, in case his system backlashes." The Healer smiled, placing the vial back in her pocket. "I'm Healer Fulby, by the way."

"Glad to meet you." Sirius smiled, keeping his eyes on Harry. He was absolutely relieved that Harry was going to be ok. He'd been worried there for a few minutes, when his poor little boy had been so blue in the face. But now he was safe and sound, warming back up on the inside. He turned to Remus. "So er… how much of that d'you think the Mu-…"

"Sirius Black? Remus Lupin?" A short wizard wearing deep green robes and a matching hat entered the room. "My name is Cadmus Trillington, of the Department of Wizarding Security at the Ministry of Magic. I need to speak to you in private."

"Well, that didn't take long." Sirius muttered to himself. He glanced back at Harry as they followed the wizard out into the hallway. He led them down it a bit to an office where they were ushered inside.

The wizard closed the door and turned. "It has come to the Ministry's attention that you both broke Statute of Secrecy, page 242, section 8 by performing magic knowingly in front of no less than fifteen Muggles. This is a very serious matter. We've had to send out Obliviators to take care of all of the Muggles who witnessed it."

"My kid fell through the ice, and it was either magic him out or let him die." Sirius said after a moment, rather scathingly. "I wasn't about to let him die!"

"The Ministry recognizes certain situations in which magic is allowed to be used in front of Muggles without penalty. However, there is a bit of paperwork involved in which we just ask you to properly clarify the events that happened. And we will also be looking into your ability to parent properly as this incident involves a young child, who also happens to be one of the wizarding world's most important people."

"Why?" Remus asked, a little taken aback at this sudden explanation. "Sirius is his legal guardian, one hundred percent. He adopted Harry months ago, making him, officially, his full time parent. Would you fault any other full time parent? Is it because he's adopted, or because he's Harry Potter?"

"If the Ministry has reason to believe there is a fault in parenting, whether the child is adopted or not, it is our responsibility to step in for the welfare of the child in question."

"Fault in parenting?" Sirius seethed after a moment as Trillington's words sunk in. "My godson spent nearly three years living in a cupboard under some stairs and having his backside beaten with a belt and the Ministry didn't step in then! Now, we simply take an outing to go ice skating, like any average family would, and due to an accident that could have happened to anyone, my ability to parent is being called into question? This is absolutely ridiculous! But go on then. Send over your investigators to see our house and ask Harry unneeded questions."

"It is just in the best interest of the child in question, Mr. Black." Trillington stated, digging into his bag and pulling out a scroll of parchment. "Now, this merely states that you recognize that you knowingly preformed magic in front of Muggles and it has a section here, where you can fill out the reason for doing such. In this case, there will most likely be no charge against you because it was special circumstances. It needs to be filled out by the both of you and sent back to the Ministry within one week of today's date. An official representing the Department for the Welfare of Magical Children will be around to investigate your parenting ability within the next few days."

"Fine, whatever." Sirius sighed, taking the scroll of parchment and tucking it into one of his pockets. They would do what they had to, if only because the Ministry was demanding it. "Now, I need to get back to my godson."

…...

Harry was released from the hospital the next morning after a quick go over by Healer Fulby. He was no longer hypothermic, suffering merely a bit of a cold now that was easily helped with a dosage of Pepper-Up potion in the morning and evening.

Steam pouring out of his ears, Harry sat at the kitchen table, coloring as Sirius made him some soup for lunch. Remus sat across from the little boy, helping him make up a story to go along with the pictures. Harry had been assigned a special book-making homework project for school because it was the school's reading appreciation month. It was supposed to be due today, but since Harry hadn't gone to school and falling through the ice had gotten in the way of finishing it up yesterday, he'd turn it in tomorrow.

Sirius smiled, setting the bowl of soup for Harry down on the table and Remus pulled the papers for the story book out of the way, not wanting them to get wet.

"We should really clean this house up before that Ministry official gets here." Remus suggested after a moment. "The letter said he or she would be here by two and it's nearly one already."

"Yeah, good idea." Sirius nodded, taking a bite out of his grilled cheese sandwich before placing it back down on the plate. He was a bit nervous about this inspection. What exactly was this Ministry person going to be looking for when judging his parenting ability? "Remember, Harry. I expect you to be on your best behavior when our visitor arrives."

"Okay, Paddy." Harry nodding, spooning some soup into his mouth.

"Good boy. I'll get started upstairs if you want to start down here, Moony."

"Sure thing." Remus nodded, rising from his chair. He moved Harry's pictures and the story they had written down on lined paper so far before they would put it on construction paper to a shelf on the wall above the table where they kept some of Harry's coloring books, crayons and markers along with a binder to put all of his past and graded assignments into. Sirius wanted to save them, thinking it would be fun, as Harry grew, to look back on them.

So, Sirius and Remus set to work tidying up the house, mostly just using magic to replace things to their proper areas. Harry began helping once he had finished his lunch.

Trying to make it look like someone lived there, while making it not overly messy, Sirius kept some of Harry's toys out in random places, like the corner between the couch and the fireplace where they had built a fort with a sheet, spanning it from one arm of the couch over to a bookcase shelf that sat against the wall next to the fireplace. The playroom was left as messy as it usually was, and Harry's bedroom was mostly clean, his watercolors left out on the table.

Once all three men were satisfied of their good job, Sirius flopped down on the living room couch and Remus got Harry's project back out so they could work on it at the coffee table.

Shortly afterwards, the doorbell rang and Sirius rose to answer it apprehensively.

A man wearing a long coat tipped his hat. "Afternoon, Mr. Black. I'm Owen Troit, representative for the Department for the Protection of Magical Children."

"Come in." Sirius forced a smile, stepping back and reaching out to take the man's coat and hat, hanging them up on the rack that stood next to the door. "So, how does this work?"

"Well, I'll give your home a look over, make sure it's a suitable environment for a young child to live in and then I'll be asking you, a Mr. Lupin, and the child some questions, just to get a feel for how you act as a parent."

"Alright then, well, how about we start in here?" Sirius suggested, gesturing the man into the living room.

"Paddy! Look! I made a tree!" Harry said excitedly, holding up his newest picture which had a tree made out of construction paper glued to it, the glue dripping slightly onto the coffee table below. Sirius beamed.

"That looks great, Harry." He crouched down in front of the little boy. "Hey, listen. This is Mr. Troit, and he's here to see our house and talk to us a bit. Would you like to help me show him around?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, standing up and setting his picture back down on the coffee table. He smiled up at Mr. Troit, knowing Sirius and Remus wanted him to be as good as he could while they had a visitor. He was a lot bolder than he used to be. Not so shy of stranger anymore, especially not in his own home when Sirius and Remus were around to keep him safe. "Wanna see my fort?"

Harry ran over to his fort, diving inside. "My Paddy helped me build it. And we put stars on it too, so it glows when it's dark. And look, comfy too!" He beamed, patting a couple of fluffy pillows they had taken out of the guest room and put on the floor for Harry to rest on if he wanted. He also had a throw blanket, books, and a few toys he liked to play with in the fort.

"Well, that's a very nice fort, Harry." Mr. Troit smiled, admiring it. He pulled out a scroll of parchment and a self inking quill, recording things.

"And…" Harry climbed out of the fort and jumped over to the window seat. "Look, this is like magic. It looks like a seat, but it goes up, see?" He lifted the cushioned lid to reveal some more of the toys that had somehow made their way down from his bedroom or playroom.

"That is neat." Mr. Troit nodded as Harry closed the lid and skipped over the doorway that led from the living room to the hallway. It was plastered with his drawings and the ones Luna and his friends would owl him sometimes.

"And these are my pictures. I made them, but my friends made them to." Harry stated quite proudly. He enjoyed having one whole wall of the house mostly covered in his artwork. It made him feel good to know Padfoot and Moony liked his colorings so much that they put them in the living room where everyone could see them.

"How lovely." Mr. Troit smiled and followed as Harry went into the kitchen. He showed him the fridge, with more of his drawings, and his special plastic bowls and cups, and the shelf with all of his homework things and coloring books on it. They went through the dining room, Sirius and Remus following after them, and out into the hallway where Harry happily pointed out the little bathroom and Remus's study with all of the books in it.

Then the little boy led them all upstairs to the second floor.

"And this is my favorite bathroom, cause it has ducks." He explained, peeking in through the door and entering. "And this is my stool." He pointed to the stool in front of the sink that he used to reach and wash his hands with. "And my boats and duck. And my lion towel."

After the bathroom, Harry showed them all his playroom and his bedroom (which included Hedwig who was currently asleep, having had quite the morning goofing around with Harry), having to be redirected after a couple of minutes to get them going onto the rest of the house so that Harry didn't end up just playing trains with Mr. Troit, as he desired. He was only four after all, and his attention span didn't hold on one thing for as long as children older than him could.

They went through the rest of the house fairly quickly, there not being much to look at since the rest of it was pretty average. Just bedrooms and another bathroom.

"Thank you for that lovely tour, Harry." Mr. Troit stated once they were back down in the living room. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you some questions."

"Okay." Harry climbed up onto the window seat and Mr. Troit, who propped himself up against it on the other side, his quill poised over parchment.

""Do you like living here with Sirius and Remus?"

"Yes!" Harry laughed as though it were the simplest question in the world. If all questions this man asked were this easy, he'd have no trouble answering them!

And what sort of things do you like to do with them?"

"We play." Harry pondered, trying to think of more. "And we eat and we do my homework and Paddy helps me take baths and Moony reads me bedtime stories and they tell me stuff 'bout my mummy and daddy and sometimes Lexie comes over and she's really fun. She's a good cook and she does good cuddles too."

"That sounds very nice, Harry. What happens when you misbehave though? When you do naughty things that you're not supposed to?"

"I get a time out in the corner." Harry frowned. "I don't like time outs, but my Paddy says that's what happens when I don't do right."

"Do you remember what happened yesterday at the ice skating pond?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "It was fun, but then it wasn't fun, it was scary."

"How was it scary?"

"I went under the water and it hurt." Harry shuddered, not liking the questions so much now. Sirius moved to go to him, but Remus shook his head, placing a hand on his shoulder. They had to let the questions be asked, or they'd be accused of interfering for fear of something bad coming out and making it so they lost Harry.

""So, the ice broke and you went under? How did you get on the ice that broke? Didn't Sirius or Remus tell you that it wasn't safe?"

"Yeah, they said it was not good to skate on and to far away from the sign. I was skating, all by myself and a big big big boy hit me by accident and I slid." Harry bit his lip, not liking remembering what happened after he had slid across the ice. That part had been awful.

"And do you remember how you got out of the water?"

"My Paddy saved me!" Harry grinned now, beaming with pride, his chest puffed out. "He used magic to get me out. And Moony helped too. I always need help sometimes, and they help me."

"What sorts of other things do they help you with?"

"My homework when it's too hard. And getting stuff that's too high and tying my shoes when I can't make them tie."

"Oh yes, adults are good for things like that." Mr. Troit smiled, writing things down. "And lastly, what is your favorite thing about Sirius and Remus?"

Harry pondered for a moment, biting his lip and not quite sure what to say. And then he looked up, beaming brightly as the idea formed in his head. Of course he knew what he liked best about Padfoot and Moony. "They love me bigger than the sky."

"Thank you, Harry. You did an excellent job answering my questions. Here's a prize for you." Mr. Troit dug into his pocket once he finished writing and offered it to Harry who looked at Sirius for confirmation. He had been told never to take anything from strangers unless an adult he knew very well had told him it was okay. Sirius nodded and Harry smiled, taking the lollipop.

"Thanks!" He unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth, eyes lighting up. "MMm… blueberry!"

Mr. Troit went into Remus's study, one by one with Sirius and Remus to ask them questions in private. Once he was done speaking to Remus, he came out, rolling up his parchment with a smile. "Well, I can see this is a very happy little household you have here, Mr. Black. And quite a lovely home, if I do say so myself. I'm sure you won't have any future problems around this matter. Your ability to parent is, in my opinion, very good compared to some of the other people I'd interviewed in the past."

"Thank you, Mr. Troit." Sirius smiled, shaking his hand. Well, he was certainly glad that was over with.

Once Mr. Troit was gone, Sirius returned to the living room and ducked his head into Harry's fort. He received a very blue mouthed grin. "What d'you say we finish up at story for school, mate?"

"Yeah!"

* * *

Hey guys! I would like to apologise for my long overdue update! I realise it has been about two months since I last added a chapter, and for that, I am quite inpossibly sorry. Work has been tiring me out and I've been sick with a cold and a bad case of writer's block. But, I now have a plan for the next chapter already, so don't worry, I promise it'll be coming along soon.

Also, if you've never been to a Wrock concert, you need to go. Because it is one of the best and most wonderful experiences a Potterhead could possibly have.

Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though it feels a bit rushed and rough around the endges. I always love hearing from you, so definitly let me know what you thought if you've got the time.

A thousand loves always,

S.,Q.O.


	31. Valentine's Day

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Thirty-One: Valentine's Day_**

Remus smiled, dancing about the kitchen as he juggled some eggs in his hands, tossing them, one by one, into the air as Harry clapped his hands, excited and enjoying the show. Remus was baking cookies for Harry's Valentine's Day party at school tomorrow. He had signed up to bring them while some of the other parents had signed up to bring drinks or plates or other treats for the children to enjoy while they handed out their Valentines.

"I found the heart cutter." Lexie brandishes a large heart shaped cookie cutter from one of the kitchen drawers. She hadn't been around as much lately, the hospital being busy and needing as many hands on deck whenever possible. However, once things settled down at St. Mungo's she planned on packing up her apartment and moving into the house with the guys permanently, something Harry was looking forward to greatly because he quite adored having Lexie around. She was silly and fun and she always knew how to make his booboos better.

"Yay!" Harry cheered, raising a crayon in the air. He was working on his Valentine's for all the kids in his class. Lexie had showed him earlier how to cut out hearts, so there were bits of red and pink paper all over the floor and table. Remus had even gotten him some scraps of lace and glitter so the Valentines would be especially pretty.

"This one is gonna be for Marny." Harry announced brightly, holding up one of the prettier hearts he had made. Lexie had shown him how to write on the center of the lacy bit before gluing it to the heart card and adding sparkles so that he didn't have to wait for the glue to dry before he wrote on them. It had been tricky at first, but he'd gotten pretty good at it. "She's my bestest school friend."

"That's wonderful, Harry. I'm sure she'll love it." Lexie smiled back at him.

"And I made some for my not school friends too." Harry announced, pointing to a separate pile of hearts on the table. He had a list of names from school for all the kids in his class so that he didn't forget anyone and spelt their names right, but he had asked to have all of his wizarding friends added to the list so that he could make Valentines for them as well.

As Harry continued writing, gluing, and glittering, Remus mixed up the cookie dough and rolled it out on the opposite side of the table from where Harry's mess was.

"Here, Harry. Let's put these in here for now." Lexie suggested, moving the finished Valentines into a small basket so they didn't get cookie on them. She waved her wand to shift the scraps of paper on the floor and table over into the recycling bin and they pushed the rest of Harry's art supplies off to the side, making sure to clear the glitter up off of the table as well. "How many more do you need to make?"

Harry looked at his list. "Two."

"Alright, well, you'll have plenty of time for that. You can either go finish up in the living room, or after we finish cutting the cookies. Would you like to help?"

"Yeah!" Harry laughed, bouncing up and down and moving from his chair to where Remus was rolling the dough out. He had done this a couple of times at Christmas when they'd baked cookies, so he knew to wait until the dough was all rolled out before he started cutting cookies.

"Here, Harry." Lexie said, offering him a bowl of red liquid. "This is food coloring. Dip the edges of your cutter in that and then cut. It'll make the edges of the cookies pretty, and get on the other dough, so that when we roll it out again, we'll have some pinkish cookies too."

"Oooo…" Harry's eyes widened with delight at that idea. Lexie was usually the best at cooking and crafts, though she wasn't nearly at good as reading stories as Moony was, or at swinging him around like his Padfoot.

Harry dipped the cutter into the dye. It was just deep enough to get the bottom edges of it covered.

"Now hurry, before it drips off!" Lexie said and Harry did as he was told, quickly lifting the cutter from the bowl to the dough. A little of the coloring splattered on the dough where his cookie wasn't going to be.

"Uh oh… I messed it up."

"That's ok, Harry. The other cookies are going to be kinda pink anyway, remember?"

"Oh yeah!" Harry smiled, glad he hadn't ruined the cookies. He dipped and cut, dipped and cut, sometimes needing help to get a cookie out of the cutter and onto the floured baking tray.

Once there was no longer any space left for cutting, Remus mashed to dough together again, the coloring mixing in more and shifting to make the dough kind of swirled with pink. They rolled it out and Harry began cutting again, not dipping this time because there was already plenty of color in the dough.

Once they had cut out as many cookies from all of the dough that they could and they only had scraps of it left, Harry was allowed to make his own cookie out of the scraps, forming it on the table and squishing it all together before placing it on the pan. It was a rather misshapen flower, but then, he was four. It wasn't going to be perfect.

Sirius came home just as Lexie was pulling the cookies out of the oven. Harry had finished all of his Valentines and his homework by then and was upstairs in his room with Remus, picking out an outfit for tomorrow. Not only was it Valentines day, but it was also picture day. The school liked to do it more towards the middle of the year, on a day when the children would want to dress up anyway. It was going to be so exciting… Valentines Day _and _picture day all together! Harry couldn't wait!

"Mmm, something sure smells good." Sirius commented as he entered the kitchen, smiling as he saw Lexie pulling the cookies from the over and moving them over to a cooling rack so as to keep them good before they frosted them and added sprinkles. She would cool them a little more magically later, that way they could finish them before Harry had to go to bed.

"We've been working hard." Lexie smiled back. "Though, it's going to be peanut butter and jelly for dinner I think. And sauerkraut. Ooo, and maybe some kippers."

"Maybe for you." Sirius laughed, hugging her from behind and placing his hands down on her midsection with a smile. Her stomach was beginning to protrude a tiny bit, but it wouldn't have been noticeable to anyone unless they had known what her tummy had felt like before it had started doing that. She was nearly into to the end of the first trimester, the baby being due sometime in early August.

"Paddy!" Harry ran into the kitchen and attached himself to Sirius's leg. "Paddy, I made Valentines and cut cookies and picked clothes for tomorrow!"

"That's awesome, Harry!" Sirius beamed, scooping Harry up and hugging him tightly,. He kissed his head, very happy to see him after a long day at work.

"D'you think Hedwig can carry Valentines to my not school friends? Even all the way to Hermione and Neville?" Harry asked after a moment. The snowy owl was very good at looking after herself, the window above the kitchen sink always open for her. Remus had placed a special spell on it to keep the cold from coming in, a sort of barrier. She liked to chase after Harry though, running about the house or out in the yard.

"Of course. She's good and strong." Sirius smiled, reaching to gather up the special Valentines that had been set aside from Harry's wizarding friends. "Come here and help me pack them… we'll make sure they get there safely."

Sirius helped Harry put each valentine into a separate envelope and print the name and address of his friends upon it. They even got out the address book to do Neville and Hermione's cards, no knowing the addresses off of the top of their heads. Once the envelopes were all sealed up safely, Sirius bound them together with a bit of brown string.

"There. Now we just need to wait for Hedwig to return from hunting and she can fly them out."

Before long, Hedwig flew in through the kitchen window and landed on Harry's shoulder. She hooted playfully and nipped at his ear gently. She was quite affectionate when it came to the little boy.

"Hedwig, I have Valentines for my friends. Can you bring them to them?" Harry asked, holding up the packet of letters.

Hedwig hopped down from his shoulder to the table and held one leg out, standing very still. Sirius held up the letters. "Now Hedwig, these can mostly go all directly to the recipients, but this last one here, Hermione's needs to be placed through the mail slot so her parents don't get suspicious. They're Muggles and can't know about owl post."

Hedwig hooted confirmation. She was a specially trained post owl of course. She always knew, somehow, which letter went where and the terms mail slot and Muggles. Sirius had always believed post owls to be smarter than some wizards gave them credit for, and Hedwig was definitely no exception to that belief. She always seemed to know just what he or Harry meant when it came to sending letter.

"Good girl." Sirius tied the packet of letters onto Hedwig's leg and Harry gave her a kiss.

"Be safe, Hedwig." He said, stroking her feathers. She gave a hoot and reassuring pet on the tip of his nose, almost as though she were kissing him back, and then swept out the kitchen window.

"That is one brilliant owl." Lexie commented as she placed a plate full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches down on the table.

"She's the best owl." Harry nodded, reaching for a sandwich.

…...

The next morning when Harry got to school he discovered that the whole room had been decorated with shiny tinsel hearts and streamers, making it look like a real good party in the making.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Harry!" Miss Nancy beamed as Harry placed his boots away beside the door and was left in just his wool socks. That how most of the kids ran around the classroom during the winter. It was a bit of a hassle to change from boots, to sneakers, and then back into boots for recess, and then back to sneakers for playtime, and then boots again for going home, especially when you were only four or five. So the kids were allowed to just run about so long as they had socks on and spares in their backpack.

"Miss Nancy, I've got Valentines!" Harry announced happily once he had bid Sirius goodbye, holding up the paper bag he had brought them in.

"That's wonderful, Harry!" Miss Nancy beamed. "Why don't you place them away with your backpack in your cubby for now though? We'll exchange them before picture time and open them at snack time."

"Okay." Harry beamed and placed away his snow suit on it's hook, and his backpack and paper bag in his cubby. He was especially excited today because he was allowed to wear something besides his usual school uniform. Remus had helped him pick out a bright red polo shirt with long sleeves to wear today with his black school pants. The other boys were dressed similarly, in different colors of polos or dress shirts, some with ties, some without while the girls wore either skirts and blouses or, most commonly, dresses. Miss Nancy had said, that even though it was Valentine's Day, they should wear whatever color they liked best instead of just red or pink.

Harry liked seeing all the different colors on his classmates instead of the usual school uniform. It was a lot of fun.

They started out the day by hearing a story about St. Valentine and how it had come about, followed by a couple of silly songs that involved a lot of funny dance moves and hugging. Harry quite enjoyed this part of the day, liking to be able to get up and move. He was allowed to sit next to whoever he wanted today to at circle time, instead of having to be in alphabetical order like usual.

After song time, they went to their respective tables that had all been placed into a big square around the room so they could all see one another and worked on making Valentines for their mummies and daddies and anyone else they wanted to make one for. It was quite noisy, kids coloring and cutting. Glitter was everywhere, sticking to surfaces, clothes, skin, and hair as though that were it's sole purpose. Glue was spilled now and then, tears shed over seemingly ruined projects that were quickly cheered when a teacher came to help start it over, and make it even better than it had been before.

By the time art time was over, Harry had created three Valentines. One each for Sirius, Remus, and Lexie.

Miss Nancy and the other two teachers placed the Valentines away on a shelf to keep them safe and then began passing out the mail boxes the children had made the day before while the kids cleaned up their spaces. They were simply cereal boxes cut in half and covered in paper that the kids had colored, but they were perfect for holding the Valentines. Each one was taped to the back of each child's respective chair with their name on it.

"Alright everyone. I want you to remain in your seats until I tell you it's okay to get up." Miss Nancy began, standing where everyone could see her. "It's time to exchange our Valentines. What you're going to do, is I will tell each table when it's their turn, and they can go to their cubbies and get their Valentines. Once you've gotten them, you can walk around the chairs and put each Valentine into the right post box. Each one has a name for you to match with, but if you get confused about who one of your cards is supposed to go to, just ask and adult and we will help you find the right box. Does everyone understand?"

After a chorusing of yeses, Miss Nancy said that the blue crayon table could get up and begin putting their Valentines into the proper boxes. Once they had gotten them from their cubbies, she said the red crayon table to could get and get their's as well.

Harry cheered and got up, heading over to his cubby and grabbing the paper bag full of Valentines for his school friends. He went back to the tables and began going around the chairs, stopping at each box to find the right Valentine to go into it. He even had one for each of his teachers that he put in the boxes they'd placed on the art easels.

"Once you have finished handing out your Valentines, you may head over to the reading area to have your school picture taken." Miss Nancy called over the noise of chattering children. They seemed to have heard her, because they did as she said, not returning to their seats, but rather, moving over to sit in the reading area where a man was waiting with some cool looking equipment. There was a light and a sheildy thingy, a blue sheet, and a fancy looking camera all surrounding a tall stool.

"Next in line." The man called with a bright smile. He had been doing this for years. Harry watched as Marny climbed up onto the stool, looking quite pretty with her dark hair pulled back in ringlets and her yellow dress. "Alright sweetheart, put your hands in your lap… there you go… and now shift your knees that way a little bit and smile real big. There you go!" He clicked a few shots, smiling. "Alright, now give me the silliest face you can!"

Marny laughed and stuck her thumbs in her ears, sticking her tongue out and crossing her eyes. The man clicked again. "Perfect job, sweetheart. You're all set. You can go back to your seat now. Next?"

Harry got up and went to sit on the stool. He did as the man told him to, putting his hands in his lap, moving his knees and smiling. He liked having his picture taken with the fancy camera! When the man told him to make a funny face to, he raised his arms up above his hand, fingers spread wide and sucked in his cheeks like a fishy, making his eyes a big as he could. Sirius always laughed the hardest when he did this goofy face. So did the man taking his picture.

"Awesome face! Alright, you're all set. You can head on back over to your table."

Harry laughed and hopped down from the stool. He went back to his seat, sitting down and coloring the pretty picture Miss Nancy had placed at every seat. He had to match the numbers inside a bunch of lines with the colors listed on top. He had done these before, so he knew how to and it was always a lot of fun to see what the picture turned out to be once it was finished.

When everyone had had their individual pictures taken, the kids were all gathered up in the circle area, standing in two staggering lines of seven by height, the teachers behind them. Harry stood next to Marny and she took his hand, glad to be next to her best friend. The picture man had them all smile, and then make goofy faces again, just like he had when he'd been taking individual pictures.

And then, it was time for the part all of the kids had been waiting for. They went table by table to get snacks from the special part table that had been set out off to the side. There were the cookies Harry had helped make, and punch with soda in it, and candy hearts, and chips, and fruit that had been cut into hearts as well as cheese and crackers.

Everyone was allowed to take some of what they wanted and then returned to the table. Once they had their food, they were allowed to remove their mail boxes from the backs of their chairs and see all of the Valentines they had received.

Harry beamed, munching away at a piece of heart shaped apple as he picked up one Valentine and then another. Some children were shouting their thanks to others as they went through them, and it was all very noisy.

"Ooooh, Harry! I love it!" Marny laughed, holding up her super glittery heart that he had made her.

"I like yours too!" Harry said, holding up the square shaped card Marny had made him, covered with drawings of hearts on white paper. He thought it was very pretty. "Oh wow, look at this one!" he held up the one he'd gotten from James, another little boy who sat at the yellow crayon table. It had a Dalmatian on it.

"Cool!" Marny beamed, searching through hers and finding a similar card, only hers had a kitty on it.

Once snack was over and valentines were placed back into mail boxes and put in cubbies to be taken home safely, the kids stayed instead to play a few games instead of going out into the chilly snowy world today.

They played Hot Potato with a balloon and musical chairs to a tape of goofy songs that the kids who got out danced about to while watching to see who won. Lastly, they all gathered around the circle rug and read a poem about family and love.

Harry was sad to see the party end, but he was excited to give his Valentines to his Padfoot, Moony, and Lexie.

When it was time to get ready to go, Harry tugged on his snow suit and boots, hat and mittens. He had to have a little help from Marny to get his backpack on over the bulk of his suit. His Valentines were safely inside.

"Did you have a good day?" Remus asked when he scooped Harry up, waving goodbye to Miss Nancy and heading out into the parking lot. As they headed for the car, a black car drove up in front of them, stopping.

"Remus Lupin?" A woman wearing a black suit asked as she rolled down the window. Remus frowned, hugging Harry closer to him and looking quite apprehensive.

"Yes?"

The woman climbed out of the car. "My name is Julia Giness, I'm with the Department for the Protection of Magical Children." She said this, glancing around to make sure they weren't being watched, but most of the kids were either walked home or had left already. There were only a few people still in the parking lot, and most of them were down out of earshot, too busy paying attention to their kids to pay any mind to what was going on further down in the lot.

"Hello Mr. Lupin!" Mr. Troit stated from the driver's seat. "Hello Harry! It's nice to see you again."

"Mr. Lupin, the Ministry has deemed Mr. Black, and yourself, to be unfit parents for a child. We are required, by law, to remove the child from your custody until further notice."

"On what grounds?" Remus asked, angling his body and gripping Harry tighter as the little boy looked completely, and utterly confused as to what was going on. Remus looked at Mr. Troit. "You said you didn't see there being any problems when you came!"

"It's out of my hands, Mr. Lupin. My superiors seem to think otherwise and I…"

"You can't do this! He is legally Sirius's child! You can't just remove a child from his home without a legitimate reason and there is absolutely no legitimate reason for this at all." Remus said, his hands grasping tighter around Harry now.

"Mr. Black can take that up with the Ministry. For now, it is my duty to take the child in question to a safe environment. This can either go the easy way, or I can call for backup. However, know that, if you resist, you will be sent to Azkaban and charged with child abuse."

"I can assure you he will be perfectly safe, Mr. Lupin." Mr. Troit said after a moment as Remus visibly held Harry tighter to himself.

"How do I know you're not Death Eaters in disguise?"

"You're welcome to come along to the Ministry with us." Mr. Troit suggested.

Remus gulped. It was either go with Harry, and risk his safety, or have him taken from him and be sent to Azkaban. Deciding the former was the better option, just so he could protect Harry if he needed to, Remus got into the back of the car, holding the little boy safely on his lap.

Miss Giness returned to the car, locking it from the inside and they drove off.

"Where're we going, Moony?" Harry asked nervously. He didn't like the looks of that lady who had spoken so meanly to Remus.

"To the Ministry, Harry. It'll be alright. Don't you worry. I'm here."

"Okay." Harry nodded. So long as his Moony was with him, he'd be safe, that much he knew.

They Flooed to the Ministry from a fireplace hidden in what looked like an abandoned home's shed. They landed in the black marble Atrium and Miss Giness led them all for a lift at the end.

They headed downwards, deep into the bowels of the Ministry, Harry holding tightly onto Remus as they did so.

The Department for the Protection of Magical Children was large. A big door led into a colorful sitting room of sorts, full of toys while other doors led off of it. A couple had names on then, indicating they were the offices of higher ups in the departments, while the last, an open doorway, led into what looked like a large room full of cubicles.

As soon as they got to the waiting room, Remus spoke up again. "I would like to speak to Tricia Lovegood."

"Lovegood was switched to the Department of Experimental Magic two weeks ago." Mr. Troit informed him, and Remus blinked. Tricia hadn't said she'd been switched, but then, they had all been so busy lately they hadn't really had time to get in touch with her or the Weasleys. With Harry in school, Sirius working, and Remus looking into ways they could add another room onto the second floor of the house, it was all pretty busy as of lately.

"Oh, I'm sure she's very happy there." Remus frowned, not so sure that was the case. Had Tricia been switch on purpose?

"It was what she wanted for years." Miss Giness said and then moved along into one of the offices. She pulled out a file. "Have a seat Mr. Lupin."

Remus sat down, keeping Harry on his lap as Mr. Troit shut the door behind them.

"So, what are your reasons for all of this?"

"I am not allowed to discuss such in front of the child in question, however, I can tell you that there will be further investigation into both Mr. Black and yourself as proper guardians. Until further notice, the child must be placed with a foster family, for his own safety."

"You're kidding." Remus stared at her, but she stared back, just as hard.

"I certainly am not. As the mother of two young children myself, I never joke about safety. Mr. Black and yourself have a fairly good report so far, there are just a few flaws which need to be adjusted before we can even think about returning the child to Mr. Black's custody. Rest assured though, we will be placing him into the home of someone you can trust to look after him to the best of their ability. She should be arriving within the next half hour to retrieve him."

"Who is it?" Remus asked, hoping it was Lexie or Tricia or Molly Weasley. At least then they would know for sure that Harry was in good hands.

"Minerva McGonagall. However, while he is in her custody, you and Mr. Black will be unable to visit him. We will have to question him again, without any possible chance of him having been influenced to answers questions a certain way."

"Moony, what's going on?" Harry asked, getting a little more nervous now. The grown ups were talking about a lot of things that he couldn't understand, but he knew something wasn't right.

"It's alright, Harry. Miss Giness is just saying you have to go and stay for a little bit of time with Professor McGonagall for a while." Remus said, feeling relieved that at least Harry wouldn't be with a complete stranger. Minerva McGonagall may be strict, but she had a good heart.

"Why?" Harry frowned. He liked the Professor very much, especially that time she had fixed his lion for him, but he didn't see why he had to stay with her when he had two perfectly good grown ups to stay with.

"Well, because Miss Giness and Mr. Troit say so. But it'll be alright, Harry. It won't be for long, just a little while?"

"But why do they say I have to? Moony I don't want to. I wanna stay with you and Paddy. Paddy promised forever, remember?"

"I'm sorry, Harry. You have to." Remus was near tears, holding them back the best he could. He wasn't sure why this was happening. What could the Ministry have found that would make them take Harry away from Sirius?

"NO!" Harry shouted, hugging his arms around Remus's neck. He stayed like that, crying all the while Remus tried to reassure him to the best of his ability.

McGonagall came knocking fifteen minutes later, wearing a look of confusion. She entered the office and stood tall. "Regarding the letter you sent me, Giness, I have absolutely no reason to believe that this boy should be separated from his parental figures."

"Your opinion on the matter will be taken at a later date, Professor." Giness said, waving her off. "We need you to take custody of the boy until further notice."

"This is absolutely ridiculous. I may not have been the easiest on Black when he was at school, but I do not believe it is right to remove Potter from his home based upon whatever silly little thing you're assuming is going on. He may be immature, but Black has a good heart and takes care of Potter very well. I will take him if I must, but it is against my better judgment." McGonagall stated rather angrily.

Remus rose, hugging Harry tightly and kissing his face. "It'll be alright, mate. Professor McGonagall lives at Hogwarts. That'll be exciting won't it? You'll get to see Bill, Charlie, Hagrid, and Dumbledore. I expect maybe even Hogsmeade if you're lucky."

"But Moony…" Harry frowned. He did like the idea of going to Hogwarts with Professor McGonagall, but not the idea of doing it without Sirius or Remus.

Remus took a deep breath, staving off the tears as he handed Harry over to McGonagall. "It'll be just fine, Harry. I promise, we'll see you very soon. I'll send some of his things over when I get home, Professor."

McGonagall nodded and shifted Harry onto a hip. He was quite a bit lighter than she had been expecting. "Well, Potter, let's go along then."

"No!" Harry screamed, kicking and crying as he watched with wide eyes, reaching for Remus as he did so. He didn't want to leave him. Something wasn't right here. Moony would never leave him, he never had, not except for full moons, and even then Harry still got to stay in his own house. This was different, this was scary. Even though he knew Professor McGonagall, and that he was going to see other people he knew and be at Hogwarts, right now he just wanted the comfort of his guardians.

Remus let the tears flow as soon as Harry was out of sight.

* * *

Oh my goodness, what is this? Another chapter? Did I really manage to do that? To be honest, I am quite astonished that I did, indeed, finish another chapter to give you today. Seriously, once I got over that evil hump of writer's block, this is going along a little more smoothly. YAY! I hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you thought, I always love hearing from you.

Later alligators, love you,

S.Q.O.


	32. Apart

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Thirty-Two: Apart_**

"I can't bloody believe this." Sirius stated angrily, pacing up and down the living room with rage emanating from his entire being. Remus had contacted him as soon as he'd gotten out of the Department for the welfare of Magical Children, having gone straight down to the Auror offices to find him. They had then spent another two hours back in the Department for the Welfare of Magical Children, trying to convince them to give Harry back and it had resulted in a yelling match. They had been asked to leave or risk being arrested for disorderly conduct. "What the hell could they have found that would make them take him away from us?! Troit said everything seemed great here!"

"They wouldn't say. They said they were doing further investigation, though I'm not sure as to what the hell that would entail." Remus grumbled, quite angry himself. He was sitting on the couch, digging through a book that held different wizarding laws, searching for anything that could help them.

Lexie was quite quiet, sitting in the armchair with her arms wrapped tightly over her stomach, a worried expression on her face. She was not the least bit happy about this either. She was pissed as hell, she just didn't have the energy to display it at the moment,.

"Well, at least we know where he is." Sirius sighed, flopping down on the couch and putting his head in his hands. "We should probably contact Dumbledore, see if there's anything he can do to help us figure out what's going on."

"I've already written him." Remus said, looking up from the book. "I imagine he's busy, but he'll probably come when he can once he hears about this."

"I hope so. He's the best hope we've got for getting Harry back."

…...

Harry whimpered slightly, hugging his Snuffles dog closely to his chest. Remus had sent a package via Floo powder a little while ago, containing some of Harry's clothes and favorite things to help him feel a little better about this. McGonagall had done her best so far to try and console him, but she was much better with older children. "I want Paddy."

"Potter, Padfoot cannot come and see you right now. I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to be brave. Would you like to go for a walk and see the grounds?" McGonagall suggested, looking up from a paper she was grading. It was the middle of the school year, so examinations were coming up to see what the students had learned so far this year. Harry shook his head.

"Would you like some dinner? I don't believe you had lunch." Harry shook his head again and McGonagall sighed, watching him carefully. He looked so much remarkably like his father, even at a young age. Upon thinking about this, a small smile played upon her lips, an idea popping into her head. "I believe the Gryffindor Quidditch team has practice after dinner, if you'd like, we can go down and watch them."

"Quidditch?" Harry perked up a little bit, still sad, but then, Quidditch was one of his favorite things. The opportunity to see a real live team playing was very tempting to the four year old.

"Yes, but you'd have to eat dinner first if you want to see them play."

Harry pondered it over for a minute before nodding. He would like to see some Quidditch, and if that meant he had to eat dinner, he would do it. Wait until he told his Padfoot he'd seen real Quidditch! "Okay."

"Good. Come along then." McGonagall rose from the table in her small kitchen/living room. It was hidden behind a bookshelf in her office which was located fairly close to the Gryffindor tower. In fact, if she wanted, she could open a window and look down at the common room from behind a tapestry that could only be seen through on one side. It was how she knew when parties had gone on for a bit too long, though she never penalized against the students when they managed to swipe food from the kitchens. It was all part of going to Hogwarts of course.

Beyond her small main living area, were McGonagall's bedroom and bathroom. Harry had already been told that if the door was shut, he must knock. However, if it was open, he was free to go between the living room and the bathroom as much as he liked, but not to play with things that weren't his.

Harry rose from where he was sitting on the floor with his toys and hugged Snuffles close. He loved his Lion, but this dog gave him an extra dose of cuddly reassurance, especially now.

Having flooed straight from the Ministry to McGonagall's office, Harry had not yet seen the rest of the castle, so when they left the office, his jaw dropped. The ceilings were so tall! And there was a scattering of people here and there, all wearing black robes and school uniforms. Harry had never seen a school so big.

McGonagall took his hand and led him along, through a couple of short cuts and along corridors until they finally, blessedly, and to Harry's relief, reached the Great Hall.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head as they entered the large room, head tilting back to gaze upwards at the ceiling. Or was it the sunset sky? Harry wasn't sure, but either way, it was really pretty.

"Heya Harry! What're you doing here?" Harry turned at the familiar voice and smiled, glad to see red headed Bill Weasley waving at him from one of the tables.

"He's visiting for a short time, Weasley." McGonagall explained, letting go of Harry's hand.

"Cool! Hey Harry, d'you want to eat here with us?" Charlie asked, grinning and shifting slightly aside from his brother to make a space. Harry look up at McGonagall who nodded.

"Just make sure you bring him straight back to me before you leave, Weasley."

"Sure thing, Professor." Bill smiled and Harry climbed up onto the bench between him and Charlie, very glad to see their friendly familiar faces.

Charlie helped Harry get some foods he liked onto his plate, the little boy being unable to reach otherwise, while he got stares from people up and down the Great Hall.

"Here, Harry. Try this." Bill offered, presenting a chicken leg. "They're my favorite."

Harry picked it up and bit into it, his mouth watering with the flavor of it. "Yum!" He beamed, eating away at the chicken a little faster no, chewing and going back for me. He really liked it a lot. It was one of the most delicious things he had ever eaten, in fact, besides Lexie's meatballs, everything on this table was astoundingly wonderful. And when dessert rolled around, he got a nice big slice of treacle tart to devour.

"Isn't he Harry Potter?" A girl beside Charlie whispered not so quietly and a hush fell over the entire hall, everyone turning to look, waiting for the answer.

"No he's a Dementor disguised as a four year old." Bill shot back quickly. He knew what might happen if everyone started talking about Harry at once. He was old enough to also know that it would probably overwhelm the kid if random people started coming up and trying to talk to him. "He's McGonagall's nephew and our neighbor who just bears a bit of resembles to Harry Potter. He's just visiting. Right Harry?"

"Mhm!" Harry nodded, too busy chewing to correct Bill about being McGonagall's nephew or his last name. As far as he knew, he only had one aunt and she was a real meanie face.

"Sorry…" The girl looked taken aback and everyone else returned to their dessert, knowing better than to mess with Bill Weasley. He was really nice until you got on his bad side.

When dinner was over, Bill walked Harry back up to Professor McGonagall who led the little boy back upstairs to get his outdoor clothes on to watch some Quidditch.

Though it was dark out, the pitch was lit up decently, as though a thousand flashlights had been placed around it's edges and along the grass. Truth was, it was just a fancy lighting spell that they used to make it easier for everyone to see during night practices and games that went further into the night. Teams could choose though, to practice with it on or off, and tonight, the team had chosen to have it on, needing to work on new plays instead of circumstantial weather.

Harry's eyes grew wide as he hugged his stuffed dog to his chest and McGonagall led him up into the stands, sitting down and watching as the players soared around the pitch, catching, throwing, and hitting Bludgers every which way. There were fourteen players all together. The main team, and the reserve team, though they mixed together to form two teams and play against one another, making practice all the more effective.

Harry couldn't take his eyes off of the pitch, enticed by how fast these players flew. He had never imagined a broomstick could zoom around like that! His toy one only half as fast as Harry could run!

"Professor McGooglegul?" Harry asked after they had been watching the team practice for about half an hour. "Can we play too?"

McGonagall pondered it over for a moment and then rose from her seat. "Let's go see if show you a little bit. I'm sure they'd be glad to." They left the stands and made their way down onto the pitch where some of the players were getting drinks of water.

"Hey Professor!" A burly boy of about sixteen waved, broom in one hand.

"Evening Fulby." McGonagall stated when they were close enough. "This is Harry Potter. He's visiting for a bit and was wondering if you would show him some things."

"Hey!" Fulby seemed to get excited really quickly. "Yeah! You like Quidditch, Harry?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, jumping up and down, so excited to see real Quidditch players in action. "My daddy was a Chaser."

"Me too, that's cool." Fulby smiled and crouched down to get on Harry's level a bit better. "Want me to show you a special move? It's called the Whirling Whiplash."

"Yeah!" Harry jumped up and down before Fulby looked at McGonagall.

"I promise I won't drop him."

"You never drop the Quaffle, I have full faith." McGonagall admitted. Fulby had been made captain of the team for a reason. He was kind and fair, and a damn good Quidditch player to boot.

"C'mon, Harry." Fulby mounted his broomstick and Harry hopped forward. With a little help, he was able to sit on the broom in front of Fulby. The older boy placed his arms on either side of Harry, gripping the broom in front of him to better keep him on and took off into the air. Harry gave a whoop of excitement, the wind whipping through his hair faster than even Padfoot could spin him or a swing could swing him.

They weren't very high up, only about ten feet just for safety's sake.

"Are you ready, Harry?" Fulby asked.

"Yeah!"

"Okay, hold on really tight."

"Okay." Harry nodded and did as he was told, gripping the broom below Fulby's hands very tightly.

The broom sped up, the world around them blurring, and then they started to spin, shooting across the pitch. Harry screamed with pure joy, adrenaline rushing through his little body. And then the broom rocketed upwards, still spinning until they hit thirty feet in the air and Fulby pulled them up to a stop.

Harry's eyes were wide and he whooped. "That was so cool!"

"That's a special move to keep the Quaffle away from the other players. If you spin, they can't take it from you as easily, but it's a lot harder to do one handed, so you have to be really good at it." Fulby smiled as he dived, slowly and easily as floating, back down towards a safer height. They circled the pitch a couple of times before returning to the center and McGonagall.

"Well, Potter? How do you like flying?" McGonagall asked as Fulby transferred Harry from the broom to the professor.

"It's my favorite!" Harry laughed brightly, hugging her around the neck, glad she had taken him out to see the Quidditch players. "Can we write Paddy a letter and tell him all about it?"

"I suppose that's alright." McGonagall said after a few moments of pondering. The Ministry had said nothing about not exchanging letters. Sirius and Remus weren't allowed to see Harry for the time being, but letters? That was, technically, not seeing him.

"YAY!" Harry grinned, happy for this news at least. He really did miss his family a lot. He was elated from playing with the big Quidditch players, but he was also feeling more and more unhappy the further they got from the pitch.

When they returned to McGonagall's quarters, Harry sighed, climbing into a kitchen chair as she spread out parchment and ink.

"Alright, what is it you'd like to say in your letter, Potter?"

"I can write." Harry said, perking up a little. He always liked to be able to show his abilities to new people. McGonagall looked slightly taken aback as Harry slid off the chair and returned with his box of crayons. He picked out a red one and began writing, biting his tongue between his teeth.

_Dear Pady and Moony. I got to fly with a big kwidich player. He shoed me how to do a wurling whiplash move. It was reely cool. I mis you a lot. When can I come home? Plees rite back. Love Harry._

McGonagall read it over, impressed with his ability. He was only four, so his spelling wasn't perfect, but he had still managed to write a decent letter and obviously knew the sounds of letters well enough to make his words readable, even if they weren't perfect.

"It looks good, Potter." McGonagall rolled it up and carried it over to where the owl who normally carried her mail for her, mostly notes to other members of the Hogwarts staff. "Off you go then, Jupiter." She said, opening a window and the owl flew out, heading off to Ottery St. Catchpole. "Alright, Potter. Tomorrow you're going to spend the day with Hagrid, but for now, it's time for bed. Go get your pajamas on."

Harry grimaced and heaved a sigh, grabbing up the bag that had his pajamas in it and changing into them while McGonagall made up the couch for him.

Harry climbed onto the couch and snuggled down under the borrowed blanket, his head buried against his own pillow that Remus had sent over with his clothes and toys, thinking the smell of home might make sleeping a bit easier when he was in this strange new place.

"Gotta wind it." Harry said, holding up the music box to McGonagall. She wound it up and set it on the coffee table.

"All set then?"

"Will you read me a story?" Harry asked curiously, hope filling his voice as the music box chimed along.

McGonagall smiled and rose, moving to her book shelf and pulling off an old book. "This was my favorite when I was a little girl." She said, sitting down on the edge of the couch.

"Once upon a time, in a far away land…"

Harry was out like a light before she finished.

…...

"What do you mean 'pose potential dangers'?!" Sirius shouted, hitting report Dumbledore had managed to get from the Ministry. "We already had everything cleared back in August by Tricia. The fence, the shed, every single little thing possible was gone over and approved safe!"

"This is all my fault." Remus said, his face buried in his hands. He was sitting on the couch while Sirius paced up and down the living room floor again, Dumbledore watching them both.

"And how!? How could they have found out about Harry sneaking out unless they were spying on us somehow?" Sirius asked, dropping the papers down onto the coffee table.

"My sources tell me, that a discussion was overheard in the waiting room at St. Mungo's." Dumbledore explained. "Someone reported seeing Harry and you in the waiting room and that you were talking about werewolf related things and they were able to put two and two together. I believe you must have given the impression that Harry had seen you when changed?"

"Completely my fault." Remus groaned, banging his head down on the coffee table. "I have to leave. That's all there is to it. The Ministry will never give Harry back as long as I'm still living here."

"No, Remus. We need you here, you're part of our family." Sirius said, sitting down next to him and patting him on the back. "We'll just have to figure out a different way."

"Perhaps, instead of changing in the shed, Remus, you could return to doing so in the Shrieking Shack? That would put Harry out of harm's way. We could also install these Muggle contraptions upon the doors." Dumbledore dug into his pocket and held up a white bulbous object. It was hollow and had a little hole at one end. "Clever Muggles. This goes around a doorknob so it can only be opened by someone who has a big enough hand and the strength to press inwards and grasp the actual knob beneath. I believe things such as this are referred to as 'child proofing'."

"Yeah! Lily was talking about doing things like that when Harry started walking… they had to put up all the ornaments." Sirius perked up. "There were latches on the bottom cupboards."

"I also have a padlock, for the fence gate." Dumbledore said, digging again. "No key, just a combination. I have also charmed it so that underage magic, anyone with a Trace on them, won't be able to affect it."

"Brilliant!" Sirius took the padlock, examining it with pure interest. He had never even thought about child proofing the house. Harry was usually well behaved and didn't typically get into anything he wasn't supposed to so it had never crossed his mind. But after that little incident a while back with Harry trying to bring Moony a book… Perhaps child proofing wasn't such a bad idea. And if it got the Ministry to give Harry back to them, then it was worth it.

"But how can we be sure it'll help anything?" Remus asked, lifting his head from his heads. "What if they still refuse to give Harry back? The Ministry is run by that corrupted bitch. She and Lucious Malfoy have always had a sort of underlying cohortedness that could be behind this mess."

"Then we'll keep fighting against it. If we have to kidnap Harry and move away to another country we will. I don't care. We will get him back, no matter what." Sirius stated boldly, rising from the couch and moving across the room towards Dumbledore. "Let's childproof this house."

They spent the rest of the day working on it. Every nook and cranny that the Ministry might have a problem with was solved. The doors to the outside had the bulbous bulbs placed over their knobs. The back gate had the padlock attached. They even put a railing along the side of Harry's bed in case he rolled towards the edge, something they had never even needed to think about before. Harry never fell out of bed, but if it would please the Ministry, they would do it.

After three hours of childproofing and swearing (Sirius had fought with one of the knob covers until Remus had come over and just magicked it on), the three men reconvened in the living room.

"Think they'll give us Harry back now?"

"I certainly hope so." Dumbledore nodded, straightening his hat. A pecking came at the window and they all turned to find an owl, wanting to get in. Remus dashed up to open it and the owl swooped into the room, landing sturdily on the coffee table, holding his leg out to Sirius.

Sirius took the note and unfurled it, smiling as the red crayon writing appeared. "It's from Harry. He's asking about when he gets to come home… but other than that it seems he had a good day at least. He met Quidditch players and they showed him the Whirling Whiplash. That used to be one of James's favorite moves."

"Ooo, is that the one where you spin so fast no one can take the Quaffle?" Remus asked, looking over Sirius's shoulder to look at the letter.

"Yeah." Sirius smiled, tracing the crayon letters on the parchment gently with one finger, looking sad. "Well, at least we know he's safe and sound."

"Guys…" Lexie entered the room, carrying a large book. She'd been in Remus's study most of the day, looking through his Ministry law books, searching for the proper procedures when a werewolf had a child of his or her own. "This here states that whenever a werewolf has a child, that child is to be left with the parent so long as the parent takes the initiative to protect the child from within a mile of the parent when they change."

"Our shed isn't a mile from the house, it's just over half of one."

"Exactly. Move the shed, and no one can say anything."

"Or we can just move it back into the back yard considering I'll be doing all my full moons at the Shrieking Shack from now on. It was one thing to want to be close to home before Harry was quite ready for us to be far away. But now Lexie's here on such a regular basis… She is part of our family and Harry's really comfortable with her."

"Yes." Sirius nodded, smiling. "I think this is going to work. Harry'll be safe, and we'll all be happy."

"Wonderful." Dumbledore smiled. He knew laws in and out, but even he hadn't read up on every single little thing. "In the morning we shall attend to this matter. For now, I believe it is quite late and bed beckons."

Sirius glanced up at the clock. It was two in the morning. He laughed. Yes, it was definitely time for bed… if he could sleep that was.

* * *

Hey guys! This chapter was a little bit awkward, but I hope you liked it anyway! Also,

Dear Joe,  
While it may not have been common place to put a child in a safety seat when riding in the car in 1984, that does not mean that people never did. In fact, because Sirius loves Harry so much, of course he's going to protect him in every way possible, espeically in a fast moving vehicle. As for the key cards... I was born in 1990. I have never seen anything different, and therefore it did not occur to me that they hadn't been invented yet. For your displeasure at the very slight modernization that occurs when one is writing within a time frame they are not entirely familiar with, I apologfise. However, next time you wish to get testy over such a tiny flaw that no one else seems to have a problem with, I ask you sign in first so that I can respond to you privately in case you wish to discuss the matter further. Thank you.

GUYSSSS GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYS GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYSSSSSSSS!  
I am so excited! I would like to thank each and every one of you who has ever reveiwed on this story because we have hit over 1,000 reveiws at this point in time. I am so insanely happy about this and the wonderful response it has gotten that I am undoubtedly going to now put on my head set, crank up some music, and lip sync to it whilst dancing about wildly.  
ALSO, more awesome news. The ever lovely KrolKrol has begun to translate this into Portugese. So, if any of you prefer to read in Portugese, I will link it in my profile. Cheers to KrolKrol for being so insanely made of awesomeness!

Sorry for the long A/N! Anyways, as always, I appreciate your reveiws, but you don't have to if you don't want to, I also appreciate your interest in reading. :3

Love always, and always,

S.Q.O.


	33. Waiting

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Thirty-Three: Waiting_**

"So as you can see we have been very busy tying up the odds and ends in the house that could pose any possible danger to young children." Remus stated, gesturing to the plastic white thing surrounding the knob on the front door. "Muggle contraptions with anti-underage tampering spells placed upon them, I think, should be sufficient."

"It all does seem to be in order." Ms. Giness stated, going over her clipboarded sheets of parchment. "However, there is still the most concerning matter at hand."

"And which one would that be?" Sirius asked, though they all knew what the answer would be.

It had taken four days of sending letters, knocking on office doors, and shouting to finally get the house re-inspected. Apparently, the Department for the Protection of Magical Children was always very busy. Situations where children needed to be removed from homes were much more important than placing children back into the homes they had come from.

"The werewolf situation of course. Now, Mister Lupin, it is perfectly legal and within your rights for you to reside in a home where there is a child present. But that child's safety must always be the first and foremost thing in everyone's minds."

"Well, of course we feel the same way about that." Remus replied, running a hand through his hand in a sign of stress. "We've decided I'll be doing my changing in the Shrieking Shack, in Hogsmeade, like I used to in my school days. Dumbledore has already reinforced it and it's even safer now than it used to be. I'll be there from an hour before sunset every full moon, until I change back."

"That sounds reasonable enough. Mr. Troit will be monitoring that, just for the first couple of months, making sue that you are indeed, using the Shrieking Shack."

"By all means." Sirius nodded.

"However, there is also the question of whether you two, as a pair of men, can properly raise a little boy to the best of your abilities. Because the child in question is currently in the custody of the Department for the Protection of Magical Children, your rights as a parent were automatically stripped, meaning that, legally, you are going to have to re-establish custody. We do this so that children who have been badly abused are not automatically returned to their families without further inquiry after the initial follow-up home visit after the child has been removed. There used to be cases where the home got fixed up and things looked good to go, and then two weeks later we've been called again to remove the child."

"So, we just have to fill out some more paperwork and have regular follow-up visits like we did with Tricia Lovegood, right?"

"Well, normally that would be the case but, word has gotten around about Harry Potter…" Ms. Giness heaved a sigh. "And another family has come forward with an interest in him."

"Who?" Sirius demanded, feeling anger rise in his soul. What sort of people would have the balls to take his little boy away from him?

"Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy."

"What!?" Remus burst out, looking completely appalled. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"They supported Voldemort and now they want Harry Potter?! I smell something fishy." Sirius glared. "No way in hell. I adopted Harry months ago and…"

"And your rights were stripped, as I've already explained. Now, I'm going to be honest with you here, Mr. Black. The Malfoys have money."

"I have money!"

"Yes, but the Malfoys also have a stable family unit. Mother, father, they even have a son the same age as Harry. It would be a lovely home for him. And there has never been any solid proof that the Malfoys ever supported You-Know-Who, that is a very serious accusation, Mr. Black."

"We have a stable family unit here! Just because we're a little off-kilter of normal, we suddenly lose the best bet for getting Harry back?" Sirius asked, so very angry he could feel his hand shaking as he balled them up into fists, knowing that he had to do his best to refrain from punching things or it would just be used against his case. "I've known Harry since the day he was born, and just because I was unable to take care of him for three years, means nothing. He has been in our lives for the past six, nearly seven, months! He needs us. We are his family. And we're better than the Malfoys! We _know _Harry! And he knows us. I'm that kid's dad now. Remus is like a second father to him and Lexie is as close to his mother as he's ever going to get. And he's going to be a big brother and two of his best friends live right across the hill there. You're willing to rip a little boy away from what he's known to be a happy place, the first family he's really going to be able to remember? All because some asshole wants to take possession of him for his own selfish purposes!?"

"Yelling at me isn't going to help you, Mr. Black. In the end, the Department for the Protection of Magical Children will decide upon what is best for the child in question. And that is final. You will be hearing from me shortly." Ms. Giness stated firmly. She tipped her hat and left, apparating once she got to the front stoop.

"Fucking Ministry! Those bastards!" Sirius shouted at the top of his lungs, his hands tearing at his hair in pure frustration. "How can they even consider putting Harry with the Malfoys? I bet that damn Lucius Malfoy gave someone a hefty bribe for this one." He strode into the hallway and grabbed his cloak off of the rack.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go knock in the teeth of my cousin's husband."

"And who will that help?" Remus sighed, reaching out a hand and placing it on Sirius's arm. "You do that and they'll get Harry for sure. It'll be the violence versus the pity card."

"Well I can't just stand here and do nothing, Moony!" Sirius groaned, falling to his knees and burying his face in his hands. He looked up at Remus, his eyes watering. "What're we going to do? I can't… I can't lose him again, Moony. I just can't."

"We'll get him back, Sirius." Remus said, reaching down and taking Sirius's cloak away from him. "You're a good parent and Harry loves you. And we've got Dumbledore on our side. And McGonagall. And Lexie. If anyone can solve this…"

"Dumbledore will." Sirius nodded, heaving a huge sigh and looking around just as the mail slid in through the slot in the door. They didn't get much Muggle post… typically if they did it was from Hermione or Harry's school. This time it was nothing more than a single large white envelope.

Sirius reached out for it. He slit it open with a finger nail and then pulled out a large 8x10 photo… It was Harry's school pictures. Sirius had ordered a bunch of them when they'd gotten the pamphlet in the mail weeks ago. Picture day had only been four days ago, and somehow, they'd already finished processing them. Those clever Muggles.

Sirius stared down at the smiling little boy staring back up at him, unmoving. Harry's eyes seemed to twinkle in his nice picture, and then, even more so in his funny faced picture.

Remus crouched down, looking at the pictures as well. Sirius looked at him. "We're going to get him back. If I have to murder someone I will, but I am not losing my godson again."

…...

Harry was quite frustrated and very, very, annoyed. It had been ages since he had seen his Paddy and his Moony and even his Lexie. Moony had said he wouldn't be here for long, so why had he already spent six nights with Professor McGonagall?

He had gotten a letter of course, from Paddy saying that they missed him and it would be soon. That had been a couple of days ago and had come with little copies of his school pictures for Professor McGonagall. She had placed the 2x6's in a frame and placed it on the mantle near a couple of other pictures. One Harry had found out was of her family, when she was a younger girl. It was in black and white and didn't move. Then there was one that did move of a man that Harry had asked about, but the Professor had changed the subject quite quickly.

"I get to be on the mantle?" Harry had asked when he'd watched her do this. She had smiled at him.

"Potter, I don't have many photographs. This way, when you go home, I'll still be able to see your charming face when I'm too busy to visit." She'd grown quite used to having him around, underfoot in the evening after classes and letting out tiny snores throughout the night. Jammy fingers in the morning, silly stories about his dreams. It was quite nice.

Over the past six days, Harry had learned quite a bit about Hogwarts. He enjoyed eating in the Great Hall, always sitting with Bill and Charlie who made him feel even more at home because they were his neighbors.

During the day, when Professor McGonagall was teaching classes, Harry usually spent time trailing through the snow after Hagrid and helping him tend some of the tamer creatures, like flobberworms and fire salamanders. Harry also really enjoyed playing with Fang, Hagrid's great big boarhound, though he had found out quickly to request being taken up to the Great Hall for lunch. The food Hagrid made was typically too hard to eat, or Harry found weird things, like talons, in it. Except for that, Harry really enjoyed spending time with Hagrid. It was a lot of fun.

But he really missed his Paddy and Moony and Lexie. He even missed going to school every day and seeing his friends, like Marny. It was very rough. Hedwig had shown up the third day he'd been here and stuck around, so that was reassuring, but she still wasn't his Paddy.

"Hagrid?" Harry asked as he handed up a small log to the great giant man to use in his fireplace. "When d'I getta go home?"

"Dunno Harry. Bu' soon I 'spect." Hagrid said, taking the log from him and watching as Harry bent down to grab up another. He pushed open the hut door and Harry entered, stomping the snow off of his boots and placing the log he was carrying next to the fireplace.

"How long is soon?" Harry asked, taking off his snowy mittens and hat and setting them down on the hearth where Hagrid had shown him it was best to dry them.

"Depends on wha' yer waitin' for I 'spose."

"Well, I've been waiting forever." Harry groaned and climbed up into Hagrid's large armchair.

…...

"How could they even… I don't understand how…"Lexie raged, both men sitting on the couch as they watched her pace back and forth across the living room floor, still in her Healer robes, hair an absolute mess. "It has to be for some evil reason!" She shouted, flopping backwards into the armchair, throwing her arms up over her head.

"That's exactly what I thought!" Sirius announced, glad someone agreed with him properly. Remus would neither agree nor disagree with his theory of the Malfoys wanting Harry for bad reasons. But then, that was Remus for you, always wanting to give people the benefit of doubt.

"We don't know that for sure, Sirius. They could just want another wizarding boy around their own son's age so the two can be brothers."

"No way." Lexie shook her head, rising to her feet again and looking as though she were pondering things over in her head quite rapidly. "The Malfoys know Lily was a Muggleborn. They'd never adopt a known half-blood to be a second son. This is a plot of some sort. They're sinister, the Malfoys."

"Exactly what I was thinking!" Sirius nodded his approval at this idea and rose to his feet as well.

"Well, all we can do about it is wait and see what happens. I contacted Tricia and she said that normally these procedures involve a question and answer with each of the parties involved, so that'd be you, Sirius, and Harry, and then the Malfoys." Remus said looking at Sirius. "Of course, they might also choose to interview myself and Lexie as we'll be living here as well, even if we aren't the ones who're going to be his legal guardians."

"It's really stupid, that whole cutting off the legal custody as soon as the child is removed from the home. I mean, I get it on some levels, but they could come up with a better system for it." Lexie sat down on the coffee table, pursing her lips and letting out a huff of indignation. "I bet Muggles have a better system than we do."

"Probably." Remus grimaced and took up his coffee cup. He drank from it and then looked up at the pictures of Harry Sirius had framed and placed upon the mantle. "But then, everything seems greener on the other side when your grass is covered in snow."

…...

"I wanna go hoooome." Harry screamed, kicking the chair leg and stomping his feet. His fists were clenched, tears streaming down his cheeks in pure aggravation. He had been at Hogwarts for a whole week without a single visit from his Paddy and frankly, at four years old, he had done a pretty good job at being resilient and adjustable. This morning though, he had had enough. "Pleeeease take me home! I need to go home!" Harry bawled, falling to the floor and kicking up his heals in what could be described as an overdue temper tantrum.

"Potter, you have to stay here until we're told you can go home, I can't take you home before…" McGonagall reached out a consoling hand, trying to calm him. He had woken up this morning, as and usual, asked if he were going home today. When she had said no, he had completely lost it. How could such a sweet little boy turn into such a crazed monster within two seconds? But then, she didn't blame him. The Ministry was taking it's own sweet time with this situation.

"I WANNA GO HOME!" Harry pushed her away, screeching on a tone that was reminiscent of being close to one only dogs might be able to hear. He cried harder, pushing up from the floor and dashing over to the fireplace. He jumped up and down, desperately trying to reach the jar of floo powder that sat there, out of reach for a reason. "I can do it! JUST GIVE ME THE FLOO POWDER! I'LL GO HOME BY MYSELF! I CAN! I CAN! I KNOW H-H-HOOOOOW!"

Harry fell to his bottom then, right on the heart rug, crying hard and looking so forlorn McGonagall felt her heart wrench. He was so young, and while he understood many thing already, this was one he didn't. He just didn't get why he wasn't allowed to go back to the only place on the planet he should always have a right to go. His own home.

"I know, I know." McGonagall sat down beside him, and this time he didn't push away as she pulled him into her lap. She held him tightly, rocking him back and forth as he cried, unable to stem the flow of tears that kept pouring forth. He was just so upset.

They sat there until he'd cried himself out and fallen asleep, spent from his tantrum.

McGonagall lifted Harry and placed him down onto the couch. She tucked him in, tightly snuggling him into the soft red blanket Sirius had sent over in the box of things Harry might want to have to make him feel safer. Not wanting to wake him, but needing to get down to class, she sent a quick note to Hagrid to let him know Harry was sleeping but to meet them for lunch in the Great Hall so he could still take him for the afternoon. Then she summoned a house elf from the kitchens to watch him for the morning and left, heading down to class.

Harry's post tantrum nap didn't last too long, only about forty minutes. When he woke, he rubbed the tear crust from his eyes and looked around. He was still at Hogwarts in McGooglegul's living room.

"Morning young sir. Would sir likes some breakfast?" Harry jumped slightly, turning his head to find a creature he'd never seen before. He slid off the couch and found that it was smaller than him, though not by much. He tipped the scale at 101 centimeters (40 inches) tall currently, and the house elf was only about 91 centimeters (36 inches).

"Er… what are you?" Harry asked curiously, unable to really think of anything but how this creature wasn't human. It had big brown eyes and huge bat-like ears and wore a tea towel as a dress. And he didn't yet contain the tact to ask 'who are you' instead of 'what are you'.

"Nuzzy is a house-elf, sir." The elf explained happily. "We is cooking and cleaning for wizards, sir."

"Ooooh." Harry giggled, getting it now. Paddy had mentioned working like a house elf to Remus once or twice, and the two had laughed, though he had never understood why. He liked this new creature.

"Would sirs like Nuzzy to makes him some breakfasts?" Nuzzy asked again, smiling a toothy grin at Harry which the little boy returned, tantrum forgotten for the time being.

"D'you know how to make scrambled eggs?" Harry asked, not really thinking anything of someone else making him breakfast since that was how it normally was anyway. Someone older than him always had to make his breakfast or lunch or dinner, usually. He did know how to help though, and how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"Nuzzy can make all types of eggs, sir."

"Okay! But my name is Harry, not sir." Harry laughed, hopping over into the kitchen and up into a chair.

"Nuzzy must respect young sir, and call him sir, sir." Nuzzy explained, moving into the kitchen and finding some eggs to cook. Harry watched her as she scrambled them up on top of the old fashioned stove in McGonagall's apartment. "Would sirs like anything else with his eggs?"

"Um… cheese? And toast?" Harry asked, wondering if he could have those as well. He liked to put cheesy eggs on top of his buttered toast. "But I can make toast!" He announced excitedly, remembering what McGonagall had showed him the other day.

"Nuzzy can prepare foods for young sir."

"I can do it, I know how." Harry beamed and slid out of his chair. He grabbed a slice of bread out of the box on the counter and skipped over to the fireplace. He stuck the bread on a long thin metal stick that sat next to it and held it out near the flame, but not very close so it wouldn't burn.

Nuzzy put the eggs on a plate and dashed over to make sure Harry didn't burn himself. She had had three young elves of her own and knew that young ones, especially elves and humans, needed close watching or they could hurt themselves. That was part of why McGonagall had requested her specifically. She knew Harry would be in excellent hands with Nuzzy,.

Nuzzy helped Harry not burn his toast and remove it from his stick before they made another piece of toast and put them both on his plate. Harry beamed at the house elf, excited that he had a new friend.

They spent the morning playing with Harry's toys, upon the little boy's insistence that it would be a lot more fun if they played together instead of Nuzzy going about cleaning things.

"RAWR! I'm a dragon!" Harry laughed, stomping about as Nuzzy followed after him.

"Rawr! Nuzzy is dragon too! Rawr!" They laughed together, destroying the block tower they had built and falling down to roll about the floor, giggling.

The door opened and McGonagall entered to the chaos of toys everywhere and a pair of giggling bodies. She heaved a sigh at the mess, but smiled, glad that Harry was feeling better now. She'd had a rough morning with her sixth year class and was ready for the hour lunch break before afternoon classes began. And even now she had essays and tests to grade.

"Hi Professor." Harry smiled, pushing up from the floor. "I'mma dragon! RAWR!" He grinned up at her toothily and she smiled back.

"I see. Do dragons eat lunch, Potter?"

"Yes!" Harry jumped up and down, very ready to go down and have lunch in the Great Hall with Bill and Charlie as he had been doing. He really liked Ronnie's older brothers. They were funny and always included him with their friends, but then, they were used to having younger kids around, with all those brothers and a sister.

…...

"Well, it's now or never." Remus sighed, pointing to the door. It was ten o'clock, and Sirius finally had an appointment to speak with Ms. Giness about why it was in Harry's best interest to be reappointed his guardian. He gulped, straightening his tie and rising from the bench.

He knocked on the wooden door and waited. It opened after a couple of moments, Lucius Malfoy and his wife, Narcissa, stepping out.

"Ah, Black. Fancy seeing you here. Last I checked this was the Department for the Protection of Magical Children, I think you've got the wrong floor. The criminal hearings are down a couple of levels." Lucius stated coldly, eyeing Sirius as though he were some sort of infected vomity cockroach.

"Very funny, Malfoy. Though, I do wonder what you're doing here. It's for the _protection _of children, however, I can see how you might get that confused with extortion. They do both end with the same sound." Sirius spat back, glaring at Lucius with contempt. He turned his eyes to his cousin. She had been so cute when they were younger, but she'd manipulated that. She glared back at him as he pressed past them, into the office.

"Mr. Black, right on time, have a seat." Ms. Giness gestured towards the chair on the other side of her desk and he sat, right on the edge of the chair, locking his eyes on hers as she looked up from a file. She closed the file and set it on her desk, digging another one out of a drawer. "So… you've filled out the application already, so I'm just going to dig a little deeper by asking you questions."

"Alright." Sirius nodded, ready for this. He didn't know what questions she would ask, but he would answer them to the best of his ability. He watched as she pulled out a quill and tapped it with her wand, setting it down upon a scroll of parchment that seemed to unroll itself. Sirius recognized them as a Direct-Quotes writing set. He'd purchased one once in his third year and tried to use it to take down notes in all of his classes so he could essentially sleep through them. He'd gotten five minutes into a Transfiguration lesson before they'd been confiscated.

"You have applied to be the legal adoptive parent of Harry James Potter, age four years, five months, and twenty-two days?"

"Yes."

"And do you understand the demanding and sometimes overwhelming task of taking care of a child full time?"

"Of course." Sirius tried not to laugh. He'd been taking care of Harry for nearly six months now. Sure, he had help from Remus and Lexie, but he still did a lot of the parenting.

"What makes you feel you would be a good parent?"

"I have been taking care of Harry since August." Sirius stated, knowing he couldn't mention July because he wasn't technically supposed to have rescued Harry from the Dursleys. All of his paperwork indicated he'd become Harry's full time caregiver in August. "I have the resources to do so, though, you don't need a lot of money to be a good parent. Kids require the basic needs of survival. Shelter and food. But they also require love, and compassion, and imagination. I have a house, where Harry has a bedroom and a playroom. He gets three meals a day, and a morning and afternoon snack. He goes to school and does well, always gets his homework done. Always gets a bath in the morning and a story at bedtime. And we play with him, myself and Remus Lupin and Alexandria Owens and he is never left home alone."

"Okay… and what about Harry in particular is it that makes you want to be his parent? Why do you want him?" Ms. Giness asked, tilting her glasses slightly.

"I've known Harry since before he was born. His parents were two of my closest friends and I was there, helping Lily when she was too pregnant to roll herself off of the couch and James was at work. I watched him come into the world, was the second person to really hold him after his mother because James had fainted and they were still reviving him. I was there, when things got bad and they had to go into hiding. I visited when I could. I helped feed him when he switched to solids, rocked him to sleep, and I was there the day he took his first steps and said his first word. While I may have not been able to take care of him for about three years because I was framed for something I didn't do, I have never stopped thinking about him. He is the first thing in my mind when I wake up, and the last thing I think about when I go to bed. I know his favorite things. He likes red and lions and trains, he loves trains. His favorite book right now is Sam's Salamander and he loves treacle pie more than anyone I've ever met. I know that he likes to have the tub filled with ¾ 's bubbles and ¼ water at bath time. And when he's not wearing a winter cap, he's always got his conductor's hat on. He loves to hide in his fort with books, and color pictures of people he loves. He has lots of friends he plays with, and can make you laugh without really trying. He's not scared of the dark, but prefers a night light and when he has bad dreams he comes to sleep with me because he feels safe with me. Which is a big thing for him, because he's still working on getting over his trust issues which stem from the abuse he suffered at the hands of his relatives. I know Harry, inside and out. I am his godfather, his parents chose me if anything happened to them, he needs me, and I will not, in any circumstance, let them, or him, down." Sirius stated this all very firmly, his heart swelling as he thought about his precious boy, knowing that he had to wear his heart on his sleeve in this situation. He had to prove that, though he was just one guy, he would go to the ends of the earth for that one little boy.

"Is it true you are in a relationship with Miss Owens?"

"Yes." Sirius faltered, uncertain if that would hurt his chances.

"How long have you been together?"

"Well, about four months, but I've known her since we were young. She was one of Lily Potter's closest friends.

"And she is already currently expecting your child?"

"Yes, actually."

"Am I right in guessing that wasn't planned?"

"Well, no, not exactly. But sometimes these things happen no matter how careful you are. We see the baby as a gift and are very excited, as is Harry. I know that doesn't look good. But Lexie is part of our family, that isn't going to change. We may not be the normal, every day family, but that doesn't make us any less of one."

"Well, Mr. Black, I think that pretty much covers all of the questions I have for you. You have answered them well. Now then, if you could send in Mr. Lupin, I need to speak to him as well."

Sirius nodded and rose from the chair. "Thanks for your time." He smiled and left the room, nodding to Moony. Remus smiled and clapped him on the shoulder, heading into the office now.

Sirius watched the door close behind him and heaved a hopeful sigh. He had done his very best, now it was up to Remus to answer questions and then, most likely, Harry.

…...

"Good afternoon, young man." Mr. Troit smiled as he sat down at McGonagall's kitchen table, quill and parchment in hand.

"Hi." Harry eyed the man warily, not really trusting his presence right now. The last time he had seen him had also been the last time he'd seen Moony. Padfoot had been at work that afternoon… Harry still had nightmares about it.

"Well Harry, I'm here because you and I need to have a little chat, is that alright?"

"Yeah." Harry shrugged after looking at McGonagall for confirmation. He knew she was good and wouldn't let anything more bad happen to him. She had already explained that Mr. Troit was coming to talk to him today, but not to worry, because Harry would still be staying with her after he left.

"I want you to know, that whatever we talk about, you can answer me with the full truth and not get in trouble, okay? No matter what you say."

"Yep." Harry nodded, having been told this too. If McGonagall hadn't told him this earlier, he might have questioned it coming from Mr. Troit. You never could tell with adults that you didn't know very well at all.

"Well then, my first question for you is… what is your favorite color?"

"Red."

"And your favorite animal?"

"Lions, but I like dogs too."

"Okay good." Mr. Troit smiled. "So Harry, have you been enjoying your time with Professor McGonagall?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "I like Professor McGooglegul, but I wanna go home."

"What's at home?"

"My Padfoot and Moony." Harry frowned. "I wanna see my Paddy and my Moony."

"I see. Do you miss them?"

"Yeah. They're my favoritest."

"Harry, what if you never went back to Padfoot and Moony? What would you do then?" Mr. Troit asked curiously, eyeing the little boy, waiting.

Harry's eyes widened at the very idea, welling with tears suddenly, his lower lip quivering. "Th-that won't h-happen. I'm gonna… gonna… g-g-go home."

"You would be very upset if you couldn't go home, wouldn't you, Harry?"

"W-wouldn't you?" Harry asked back, staring at Mr. Troit. He was young, but smart. Would Mr. Troit feel sad if he couldn't go home like Harry was feeling at the very idea of it right now? He had been stuck here a week, but he'd never even thought he wouldn't be able to ever go home…

"Harry, how would you feel about having a brother?"

Harry sniffled a bit and smiled a little bit. "That'd be f-fun. I'm getting' a brother or sister in August." He stood a little prouder, happy to be able to announce this to Mr. Troit. "Lexie's gonna have a baby, nd she's gonna be a mommy and Paddy's gonna be the daddy."

"Oh, that is exciting! But what if you could have a brother who was four like you?"

"I already have Ronnie. He's as good as a brother and he's four." Harry beamed with pride, liking sharing Ronnie too. He loved his friend dearly.

"But he isn't really your brother, is he?"

"Paddy says families aren't always the people we're related to. He says we can choose who we want for family, even if we can't choose who we were given for family." Harry stated, word for word, what Padfoot had told him ages ago when he was doing his family picture project. Harry had wondered out loud, if friends counted, because they weren't related. Sirius had fixed that right quick, explaining that families could be made from the people around you, instead of just the people you were born having.

"That's very wise of Padfoot."

"So, Ronnie is my brother, because I say so." Harry crossed his arms, glad to have made that point clear.

After asking Harry a few more standard questions that he had asked of him previously, Mr. Troit bade the boy and professor goodbye and left the apartment with his report for the Ministry.

* * *

Hey guys! I really liked writing this one (mostly because of Sirius's interveiw) so I hope you like it too. Poor Harry. Stupid Malfoys. And yes, I know I typoed Lucius in the last chapter. My brain was all spell check but my fingers were all 'hahaha we're gonna pretend to be drunk writing this word!' and of course, I didn't catch it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please lemme know what you thought, I always appreciate your feedback, and even if you don't feel like giving feedback, I appreciate you reading!

Thanks, love always, the-never-brain-just-fingers-drunk,

S.Q.O.


	34. Happiness

**His**** Boy**

**_Chapter Thirty-Four: Happiness_**

Sirius, Remus, and Lexie stared down at the official looking envelope that had just been delivered to the breakfast table by a Ministry owl, complete with seal. After a couple of moments, Sirius grabbed it up, as it was addressed to him, and with shaky hands, tore the wax that kept it closed. He pulled out a single sheet of parchment, unfolded it and read aloud, not wanting to do this on his own if it was bad news. He didn't think he would be able to handle it if it was bad. He'd probably go to his room, curl up in a ball, and never come out again. The past day and a half since his interview had been bad enough.

"Dear Mr. Black,

After a lot of careful consideration, the Department for the Protection of Magical Children has deemed your home and family are the best match for four-year-old Harry Potter. We request your presence at our offices at noon upon the 23rd of February to formalize full legal custody and adoption overseen by a representative of the Wizengamot. Congratulations.

_Olivia Giness_

_Head of the Department for the _

_Protection of Magical Children!" _Sirius cheered, his voice getting more and more excited as he had read, Remus and Lexie jumping from their seat. They both flung their arms around Sirius and danced about in a circle, laughing. The tears flowed freely. They were getting their little boy back… they were going to be a family again, officially, today.

As Sirius hugged his best friend and girlfriend, his heart exploded with such warmth that he couldn't believe how lucky he was. Not even a full six months ago, he had still been locked in a prison cell, no hope of ever seeing daylight or the ones he loved ever again… and now, unbelievably, he was here. In his own house, his own kitchen, with two of the people he loved more than anything else in the world and the knowledge that they would soon be reunited with the current single most important person in all of their lives besides each other.

…...

"Well Potter, you and I are going on a special trip today." Professor McGonagall smiled as she straightened out his hair to the best of her ability. Unfortunately, it was just like his father's, never wanting to lay flat, but then again, it suited him. Giving up, she tucked a napkin into his collar, not wanting him to make a mess of his nice clean, long sleeved grey shirt and jeans before this afternoon.

"I'm not a baby." Harry frowned, looking down at the napkin and feeling as though it were very much like a bib.

"No, you're not, but sometimes you spill and you need to stay clean today. It's a very important day." McGonagall explained, setting his plate of scrambled eggs and buttered toast in front of him. Even if he spilt now, the crumbs and eggs wouldn't soak through the napkin to his shirt like jam or oatmeal would have.

"Why? Where're we goin'?" Harry asked curiously, wondering why today had a special trip and was important. He had had a lot of fun with the Professor, but they hadn't gone anywhere that wasn't part of Hogwarts since he'd been here. It was just always too bitter cold out to stray too far from the castle or Hagrid's. Best to keep to the indoors where warmth was.

"It's a surprise." McGonagall smiled, eating her own breakfast. She would have taken him down to the Great Hall, as it would be Harry's last meal at Hogwarts until he was eleven unless he visited, but she was feeling a little bit selfish about spending the remaining time they had together with just the two of them. She had grown quite fond in the past eight and a bit days, of having Harry underfoot when she wasn't in classes.

"Oh." Harry smiled. He enjoyed surprises. Maybe they were going someplace super exciting, like Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley. His Padfoot had told him all about those places, though he had never been to either of them yet. "Is it gonna be fun?"

"Yes." McGonagall smiled, knowing that this particular surprise would be very fun for Harry. "In fact, I think it will be the best thing we've done all week."

"Wow!" Harry beamed, getting more excited now that he knew it was going to be that awesome. They had done a lot of good things this week, but the idea of doing something even better? Well, that was quite the news!

…...

"He's not going to care what you look like, Padfoot." Remus remarked as Sirius straightened out his hair for what was about the sixth time in the past fifteen minutes. They were just about to apparate to the Ministry to pick up Harry.

"I know, but if we might as well appear decent. Who knows what the Ministry might do? For all we know, they could snatch him back simply because I don't look spiffy enough." Sirius informed him, straightening out the tie he wore about once every five years or so. Even in school his uniform had been loose and easy going, never tying his tie at all unless it was around his head just to make McGonagall crazy. "Is it straight?"

"Yes, now let's go." Lexie balked, rolling her eyes and grabbing hold of Sirius's tie. She dragged him away from the mirror in the hallway and into the living room where there was more room for them to disapparate together. It was already eleven, they didn't want to be late… even though technically their meeting wasn't until noon sharp.

With three cracks, the three grown wizards appeared in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic and made they way towards the lifts, having to submit their wands for identification before getting them back. They piled into an already fairly full lift and waited, as it brought them to the correct level.

The Department for the Protection of Magical Children was always easy to find, being just off to the left of the lifts. They entered through a door and into the main lobby area before sitting down on the colorful benches that were located throughout the room for prospective parents or people seeking parental re-establishment.

And then, they waited.

The minutes seemed to tick by so slowly, Sirius tapped on his watch, wondering if it was even working properly. Lexie shuffled her feet back and forth anxiously, having to rise to go to the bathroom twice in the same hour, though for two completely different reasons each time, and no, she was not pooping in case you were wondering. Remus sighed every few minutes, looking up from the book he had brought along, unable to concentrate on the words on the page. A clock on the wall ebbed slowly onwards, giving a click for every minute that went by, each click seeming to last a full minute by itself, although, it was actually only barely half a second.

A door opened and Ms. Giness exited from it, smiling. "A little birdie has just informed me that you've been waiting out here for no less than forty-five minutes earlier than our arranged time."

"Yeah well, best to be prompt?" Sirius smiled, rising from his seat to shake her hand. He was feeling a lot friendlier to her now that he knew things were going to work out the way they were supposed to.

"Yes, indeed it is. It's a little early, but I suppose we can begin the paperwork now if you-"Ms. Giness began, but the door to the lobby was flung open, slamming up against the wall quite loudly.

"I demand to know exactly what this is about!" Lucius Malfoy spat rather menacingly as he entered the lobby, cane in one hand, brandishing a sheet of parchment in the other. His wife followed after him, her nose turned up as though she smelled something foul.

"Can I help you Mr. Malfoy?" Ms. Giness asked, looking a little startled at the intrusion.

"I received this letter this morning. We would like to know as to exactly why our application for adoption was denied." Lucius stated coldly, stopping in front of Ms. Giness and eying Sirius, Remus, and Lexie with contempt.

"Well, when there are two families involved, we decide which would be better suited for adopting the child in question. I told you from the very beginning, Mr. Malfoy, that the Department and Wizengamot tend to favor families that already have a history with the child over families that do not, even if both are very nice matches. In the end, we have to do what's best for the child, and in this particular case-"

"My cousin is not fit to raise a child." Narcissa butted in, face still sour. "He is completely immature and unreliable."

"On the contrary, we feel that Mr. Black makes an excell-"

"He's rowdy, and lives with a werewolf, and doesn't have enough decent sense not to impregnate the first woman he comes across after being imprisoned for nearly three years."

"I beg your pardon?" Lexie rose to her feet, her face reddening with anger.

"Mrs. Malfoy, I will ask you not to speak in such a defaming manner in my Department. I realize it is difficult not to be able to adopt right away when you want another child so very badly, but there are plenty of other little boys who need good homes and I will be willing to set up an appointment in which we can discuss the possibilities of-"

"We don't want another child, except for this one. Surely you must understand that? The Malfoys and the Potters were close friends for many decades, it would only be right for us to take one of them in."

"That's a load of shit." Sirius shook his head. "The Potters deplored the whole lot of you and your pureblooded bias. Lily, James, the whole line of them would be rolling in their graves if they ever saw a Potter forced to be part of the Malfoy family. You're despicable."

"How dare you!" Lucius shot back, raising his wand and looking fierce as his wife grabbed his arm to keep him from doing anything that could possibly harm their reputation. He lowered his arm, Sirius's, Remus's, and Lexie's hands, all poised to grab their own wands, lowered as well. "Come Narcissa. We're through here. But mark my words, Black, someday you're going to screw up, and we'll be waiting for it."

With his threat hanging in the air, Lucius left the room, Narcissa linked to him by their arms. Sirius stuck his tongue out after them, quite angry, but not wanting to let it get the best of him. This was going to be a happy day. And he was going to do his best not to screw it up. He did make a good dad after all.

…...

Harry was anxious. He and the Professor had Flooed from her office directly to the Ministry of Magic, specifically, a room with a lot of toys in it and bright colors.

"Where are we?" Harry asked curiously, liking the looks of all of these toys. There were a couple of other kids here, but they were a bit older than him and seemed to be playing by themselves quite contently, looking up every now and then at the double doors with frosted glass panes that led out of the room.

"This is a special play room. We have to stay here until someone fetches us, but it won't be long. And then it'll be time for the special surprise."

"Do we have to wait?" Harry asked, feeling a little put out that the surprise wasn't coming yet even though they were already here.

"Yes, but you can play until then." Harry pondered this over for a moment and then sat down next to the nearest toy train. He pushed it across the carpet, making choo-chooing noises and smiling. He enjoyed trains immensely.

After five minutes of train time and his hand playing over the brim of his conductor's hat, Harry looked up as the doors opened and someone he did not want to see entered the room. He blatantly ignored her presence, not bothering to watch as she spoke to the Professor and only looking up when McGonagall tapped him gently on the top of his head.

"It's time for your surprise, Potter."

"I dun want it. That lady is mean." Harry shook his head, glaring up at Ms. Giness like she was the absolute worse person on the planet.

"No, she's not. She's a good lady, But even if you don't like her, you're going to like your surprise, some come along Potter." McGonagall stated firmly and Harry heaved a sigh, getting to his feet. Well, if the Professor said he'd like his surprise (and she hadn't lied to him once yet as far as he knew) then he would go.

They walked through the frosted paned doors and into a happy looking hallway that they followed until they turned a corner and reached the end. All Harry could see under the brim of his hat were the occasional pairs of feet, part of the walls, benches, and the floor.

"Harry!"

Harry's head shot upwards, tilting back, eyes wide as he took in the rest of the room. He turned his head in the direction of the voice, and immediately broke into a run without really thinking about it. He _knew_ that voice! And there he was! Harry cried out, his arms shooting forward, running full speed. "PADDDDDDYYYY!"

"Harry!" Sirius crouched quickly, knowing they'd probably run into one another if he moved and then… then…

Harry hit Sirius's arms and was lifted upwards. He locked his arms around the man's neck and legs around his torso, fingers clinging tightly into the back of his shirt so hard that it wrinkled right up. Sirius's arms held onto him tightly, his lips kissing his little boy's head and cheeks over and over again, whispering reassurances into his tiny ears. "Harry, I missed you. I'm soooo sorry this happened, but I promise, never again. I promise, I promise. Forever and ever, remember? No one can ever take you away because we'll always come back together. I would fight against a dragon for you."

Harry sniffled, his little heart soaring so much that he had been unable to stem the tears that were flowing from his eyes properly. He leaned back just a smidge, wanting to see his godfather's face for just a moment, and then buried his face in his neck, breathing in the familiar scent of his Padfoot, his home.

"Paddy, I missed you. Why didn't you come get me?"

"I wasn't allowed to, Harry, or you never would have even been here in the first place." Sirius snuggled him tighter and Harry sniffled again, nodding. Of course that had to be the case, his Padfoot would never have left him alone for so long otherwise.

After a few minutes of just cuddling with his boy, Sirius dried both their cheeks and turned to look at Moony and Lexie who were waiting for their turns patiently. They both knew Harry was more attached to Sirius and needed a couple of minutes to calm down.

"Heya Harry!" Remus smiled, rising and reach a hand out to give Harry's hat a loving tug. Lexie joined him, beaming and straightening the little boy's glasses as he picked his head up.

"Moony! Lexie!" Harry squealed in that way only little kids and teenage girls usually got away with, his happiness at being back with his godfather increasing as he found his other two favoritest people waiting for him as well. He was still clinging to Sirius though, not quite ready to let go. Hugs for Moony and Lexie would wait for now, they were just pleased to see him.

"Well, that's everything done then." Ms. Giness smiled, having given them a few minutes to get reacquainted with one another before coming over. "Your paperwork is all taken care of, so you can head home as soon as you'd like. Obviously, we made the right decision."

"Damn straight." Sirius smiled, hugging his Harry tighter. "Harry, we can go home now!"

"Yaaaaaaay!" Harry laughed but then frowned a tiny bit. "But I gotta say bye first."

"Oh, well of course." Sirius carried Harry over to where the Professor was watching them, dabbing slightly at her eyes and regaining composure as they got to her.

Harry leaned forward from Sirius's arms, hugging McGonagall and she hugged him back, planting a kiss on top of his hatted head. "Bye Professor McGooglegul."

"Bye Harry, it's been a pleasure."

"You'll visit, right?" Harry asked curiously once the hug was finished.

"Of course." McGonagall nodded, giving him one of her rare smiles and Harry grinned, glad he'd see her again. He had enjoyed spending time with her, even if he had missed home very badly.

"Thanks, for keeping him safe Professor." Sirius smiled at her. "You're welcome for dinner any time."

"He's a good boy, Black." McGonagall responded, straightening out her hat. "He's a lot like his mother in that way. Oh but he is cheeky like his father as well."

"He's perfect." Sirius laughed, kissing Harry's cheek. He and McGonagall shook hands and then he rejoined his friends.

…...

Harry had spent the entire afternoon back home either clinging to Sirius and exclaiming out loud his joy at seeing things again. McGonagall had sent all of his things back shortly before they had left that morning, so they were sitting on the floor of the living room next to the fireplace. Harry didn't pay them much mind, mostly shouting about rooms. "Living room!" He'd said when they'd landed.

"Kitchen! My room! My playroom! My bathroom!" He had hugged onto Sirius even tighter as they'd walked around the house, Harry wanting to see everything but not be set down. Every time Sirius had even remotely mentioned the idea, Harry had just clung to him tighter.

Lexie made them a special dinner that night, the spaghetti and meatballs Harry loved. They sat down to eat it in the dining room too, Harry in his own chair, but keeping one hand tightly wrapped up in one of Sirius's sleeves, making the older man have to eat with his less agile left hand, but then, that was part of having kids, not always being able to do things the way you normally would. Their needs came first, and if Harry needed a day or two to feel secure in knowing that his Padfoot was right there, then that's what would be done.

At bedtime, Harry slept tightly wedged between Sirius and Lexie, face buried in Sirius's chest. Neither adult particularly minded, quite pleased just to have him back within arm's reach.

The next morning, when Harry woke up blurry eyed and splayed across most of the bed, he smiled. He sat up, rubbing at his eyes and looking at first Sirius, and then Lexie, both of them still fast asleep. He prodded Sirius in the cheek repeatedly, wanting him to get up with him.

Sirius's eyes blinked open and he yawned, looking up at Harry with a soft smile. He grabbed hold of the little boy's jammy sleep time fingers and kissed them before sitting up and pulling him into his lap. "Good morning, Harry."

"Morning Paddy." Harry grinned up at him.

It was Sunday, for which Sirius was glad of, otherwise he probably wouldn't have gone into work if it had been a weekday. He and Harry tiptoed from the bedroom and made their way downstairs to the kitchen where the wee light of morning was beginning to show. Even now, it looked like it was going to be a nice sunny day, though, probably bitter cold still.

"Let's make pancakes." Sirius suggested, lifting the bag of flour from where it sat in a high cupboard. Harry clapped his hands excitedly and hurried to the fridge to grab out the two eggs he knew they needed for making pancakes.

After helping Sirius put the ingredients in the metal bowl, Harry used the whisk to help stir them all up, needing a little help of a faster hand to get all the lumps out once the liquids had soaked into the powders.

"MMmm, looks yummy." Harry remarked. "Like vanilla cake."

"Yeah, but this won't taste anything like vanilla cake." Sirius laughed and pulled out the carton of food colorings. "Here, let's pick a color to make the pancakes. What d'you think?"

"Red." Harry suggested, reaching for the red dye but Sirius stopped him.

"Are you sure? If we add the red, it'll come out pink instead of red because the batter if so lightly colored."

"Hmmm…" Harry pondered it over for a moment and then jumped from his stool. He got into one of the lower cupboards and pulled out the tin of metal cookie cutters, remembering something. "Paddy, can we put hearts in the pancakes for Moony and Lexie?"

"That's a great idea, Harry! I don't know if it'll work, but we can try it." Sirius beamed at him as Harry picked out the big metal heart cookie cutter. Sirius grabbed him a bowl and they put red food coloring in it. Upon further thought, they made bowls with blue and green too. The yellow wouldn't show up in the pancake though, if this worked.

Sirius poured some pancake batter into the pan and let it sit, cooking until it got bubbly all throughout. Then he dipped the cookie cutter in the dye, not wanting Harry to get close to the hot pan. He place the cutter gently down into the cooking pancake and pulled it away after a moment of letting the dye connect.

Harry squealed, admiring the pink heart in the batter. Sirius flipped the pancake quickly and Harry cleaned the batter that had gotten stuck to the cutter off with a towel.

They did well, making the pancakes perfect… Sirius was rather good at pancakes, knowing when the flip from watching James's dad when he was young. Had that really only just over eight years ago? Wow.

They added chocolate chips to Remus's pancakes. Chocolate and banana to Lexie's, and blueberries to Sirius's. Harry liked to keep his plain and put treacle syrup off to the side to dip them in, because the syrup was thicker than maple and harder to drizzle than it was to place a glop on the plate with a spoon. Every single plate had three pancakes with a different colored heart on it.

"Mmmm, something smells amazing." Lexie peeked her head in, hair tousled as she entered the kitchen. "Pancakes?"

"Lexie! We made special pancakes." Harry beamed and pointed to where her plate was on the table, kept warm by a spell Sirius had placed on it. Neither had eaten yet, choosing to wait for Remus and Lexie by cleaning up first.

"There is something very, very delicious wafting into my nose." Remus remarked as he came into the kitchen as well, still in his green pajamas. He took his usual seat where the chocolate pancakes were. "Oh wow! Look, there are hearts in the pancakes!"

"Yep!" Harry laughed brightly, jumping to climb into his chair and picking up his spoon with absolute delight. It was easier getting a good bit of syrup to eat with his pancake with a spoon instead of a fork. Then his pancake would just break off in the syrup.

"Mmm, and they're my favorite!" Remus beamed and tousled Harry's hair, taking a big bite of his pancakes before scooping Harry up into a hug. He'd gotten a couple last night before bed, but he still needed to reassure himself that the kid was back, safe and sound.

Harry returned the hug happily and then they all sat down to eat breakfast, together, as a family.

* * *

Hi guys! I'm so glad you took the time to read today! I really really enjoyed writing this chapter. Let me know what you thought if you want, I always appreciate it!

Love muchly, crazy-headed,

S.Q.O.


	35. Weasley Birthday

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Thirty-Five: A Weasley Birthday_**

"Ronnie's birthday, Ronnie's birthday!" Harry chanted excitedly as Sirius hoisted him up onto his shoulder's. Remus had a firm hold on Ronnie's birthday present, a smile on his face. The three of them had been invited to the Burrow today, the first of March. As it was Friday, he had had school that morning, but the party wasn't until the afternoon anyway. Sirius had even taken the afternoon off from work to join them. "I can't wait!"

"I know, it'll be a lot of fun!" Sirius laughed, bouncing him a bit as they traveled over the hill and down through the orchard that separated their house from the Burrow. They lived on the same twisting dirt lane, but it twisted so much that the end of it was actually a mere half mile's walk from their own front steps though, if they had gone by road, it would have been a full two miles.

After traipsing through the slightly melted snow, the three men arrived at the Burrow's front door. Sirius set Harry down and let the little boy knock, jumping up and down until the lower half of the door opened.

"Harry!" Ginny let out a high pitched squeal and she hugged him tightly, tugging him inside while Molly opened the top half of the door to allow Sirius and Remus to enter as well.

"So good of you to come, Ronnie is beyond excited to have a friend for his birthday this year instead of just family." Molly beamed, reaching down to help pry Ginny off of Harry so he could get his boots off.

"Well, it's not everyday you turn five." Sirius beamed, handing her Ronnie's gift and tugging off his own boots, not wanting to track the wet snow into the house further than it already was.

"Harry! Harry, come see!" Ronnie shouted, running into the kitchen with his blue eyes shining brightly. He grabbed hold of Harry's hand and tugged him off into the sitting room. The adults all followed, chatting and laughing as a small swarm of children made noise in the sitting room.

Ronnie led Harry over to the couch and picked up a wooden box from the coffee table sitting there, holding it up proudly. It was beaten in places, but obviously quite a great treasure to the little boy. He pulled it open and, grinning wide, held it out for Harry to see. Inside were stone game pieces, white and black, battered beyond belief.

"What are they?" Harry asked curiously, having never seen anything like them before.

"It's a chess set!" Ronnie exclaimed so brightly that one might have thought he'd won the lottery. "They were my Granddad's. He gave them to me for my birthday. Dad's been teachin' me how to play. It's really hard and fun! All the pieces move different, and you have to be careful, cause if you move wrong, the other person can kill your piece, and that's bad. Dad says you have to get the other person's king piece so they can't move anywhere and save him. That's called a check mate."

"Cool!" Harry laughed, admiring the pieces with even more interest now that he knew they were a game.

"Wanna play? I can show you!"

"Okay!" Harry nodded and he and Ronnie got down on the floor, setting up the pieces on the stone board Ronnie pulled from the bottom of the box. He showed Harry where each piece went and they got them sorted before sitting across from one another.

"Not too long now boys, it's almost time for lunch." Mr. Weasley informed them gently, but he was smiling. He was quite proud of his youngest son. He had taught all of his sons how to play chess, but none of them had been as involved or good at it as Ronnie was already. With five older brothers, it was hard to be unique and stand out. Chess gave Ronnie something that was all his own to be proud of.

Neither little boy was really listening though. They sat on their knees, both intent on the board. Ronnie leaned forward, his left hand on the floor as he used his right to point to each piece, telling Harry how they moved while Harry leaned forward as well, watching closely and listening with attention to his redheaded best friend.

Sirius pulled out his camera and snapped a quick photo of the two, smiling at how they would cherish this memory when they were older.

"Harry, come play with Baby Weasley and me." Ginny begged, tugging at him, the rag doll she had gotten for her third birthday hanging from one of her arms.

"Go away Ginny, we're playing." Ronnie said impatiently. "And then the knight moves like the letter L, the big one, not the little one."

"Okay." Harry nodded in understanding, watching as Ronnie showed how the knight moved across the board. "I'll play later Ginny."

"Noooo, play now!" Ginny stomped her foot, tugging at him harder, Harry pulled away from her, shaking his head.

"No, I'm playing with Ronnie!"

"Har-ry Pot-ter!" Ginny put her hands on her hips angrily, enunciated her syllables, glaring down at the boys with a red face. " We are gonna play! We gotta get married! I need a daddy so I can be the mummy!" She shook a finger at him while Sirius snapped another photo, making her face look serious, voice threatening. "Now come play!"

"Ginny! Stop it!" Ronnie shouted at her, looking angrier and angrier. It was his birthday and Harry was his best friend after all. He didn't want his little sister ruining it.

"Ginny, we can't get married 'til we're big!" Harry heaved a sigh, knowing that only grown ups got married. But then, Ginny was still kind of little, so maybe she didn't know that yet? He was all for playing house, but not so much at getting married. That was much too girly a game for him. "When we're big we will get married and then we will have a baby and you can be the mummy and I will be the daddy."

Ginny stopped in her tracks. One could almost see the gears and cogs turning over in her head as she pondered this. The adults were looking on, trying very hard to keep from laughing at their antics. For the kids, it was a serious situation. Finally, Ginny seemed to come to a conclusion and nodded.

"You promise?"

"Yeah. When we're really big grown ups." Harry nodded in confirmation and Ginny smiled.

"Okay." She beamed, properly sated and skipped away into the kitchen. As soon as she was gone, Sirius burst out, laughing hard and reaching down to ruffle Harry's hair.

"You know she's going to hold you to that, right mate?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded and returned to playing with Ronnie, the two boys discussing which piece was the best to move next, Ronnie showing Harry when he was going to make a bad move beforehand, just as his Daddy had done for him.

After a few minutes, Mrs. Weasley came into the room to announce that it was time for birthday lunch. Hungry as always, the troop of redheads, and the Potter-Black-Lupin family made their way into the kitchen.

Mrs. Weasley had prepared Ronnie's favorite foods for the occasion. Chicken, potatoes, and corn (which he favored above the other vegetables). Quickly following lunch, which was, as always, quite a messy affair with a bunch of kids, who, despite attempting to be clean, managed to somehow get mashed potatoes on the ceiling. When Mrs. Weasley noticed, she sighed, placed her hands on her hips and looked down her full table.

"Alright, who threw their mashed potatoes?"

"It was George, Mum!" Percy reported, pointing to his younger brother.

"Yeah, I think it was George too." Arthur admitted with a nod, having only seen it out of the corner of his eye. Mashed potatoes were easily cleaned up though, and he hadn't wanted to ruin the festivities.

"No, no! It was Fred!" Ronnie clambered for his voice to be heard, knowing that it had, indeed, been Fred who'd thrown the potatoes.

"Yeah, Fred!" Ginny nodded, wanting her two cents to count. "I saw him!"

"It was both of them." Harry sat up, pointing his fork directly across the table to where the twins sat. He had a perfect view of them.

"Boys, go sit in the corner. You know better than to throw food." Mrs. Weasley sighed, pointing to the corner where there sat not one, but two little stools.

"But Mum!" Fred began.

"We didn't throw it!" George continued.

And then they looked at one another and then at their mother, grinning cheekily, before stating in unison. "We catapulted it!"

"Either way, food should not be flying. That was wrong of you boys, so do as your mother says." Mr. Weasley pointed to the stools as well. Fred and George heaved identical sighs and moved from their chairs over to the stools while their mother set a Muggle timer Arthur had procured from work to six minutes.

"Harry, d'you wanna play more chess when we're done?" Ronnie asked once the hubbub was over. He and Harry had chosen seats beside one another, Ginny monopolizing Harry's other side. She was being fairly quiet for the most part, glancing at him occasionally and rocking the rag doll in her lap while she ate.

"Yeah, okay." Harry agreed, knowing that Ronnie seemed to really want to play more chess. So far he found it quite difficult to understand, but as Sirius normally said when it came to new games, it just took time to learn all of the rules. He had had the same problem with their game of Monopoly at home, but now he got it for the most part. "Then maybe snowball tag?"

"Yeah!" Ronnie nodded enthusiastically. They all liked snowball tag. Harry had played it a lot with the Weasleys over the course of this winter so far, getting together at least once a week to hang out with Ronnie as either one of their houses. Snowball tag was a lot like freeze tag, only the person who was 'it' had to throw snowballs in order to make you freeze. Then someone else had to clap a snowball into your hand to save you from being frozen. It was a lot of fun, especially when one of the grown up enchanted the snowballs to make it so you really stood frozen on the spot.

They finished lunch and sang a rousing number of 'Happy Birthday' before Ronnie blew out the candles on his chocolate cake covered in gummy salamanders that crawled through the frosting until you bit their heads off. Ginny seemed to find this particularly amusing and asked for extras of the salamanders.

Then Harry presented Ronnie with his gift, a tin full of different Wizarding candies. Harry had thought it was the best, because Ronnie liked sweets and the tin had animals on the cover. Ronnie opened it excitedly, having usually only received gifts from the family before and let out a cry of happiness when he saw the tin. "Ooo! Thanks, mate! I can put my chocolate frog cards in this! Look Mum! Harry got me an animal box, isn't it pretty?"

"Yes dear, it's very pretty!" Mrs. Weasley smiled at her son's happiness while Harry laughed.

"You gotta open it, Ronnie!" He reached out and together the two boys pried the top off of the tin and Ronnie let out a howl of pure delight.

"Woah! Chocolate frogs, liquorices wands, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Droobles gum!" Ronnie danced about like a five year old who had just been presented with a ton of candy (which he had) and set the tin down to hug his best mate excitedly.

"Make sure you don't eat too much at once though, Ronnie." Remus warned with a smile. "Don't want to get sick."

"I know!" Ronnie continued to whoop before closing his tin. Ginny eyed it, watching it close with sad eyes. She stared at her big brother before jutting her lower lip out and tugging at his sleeve. He looked at her. "Dun worry, Ginny, I'll share. We're gonna snowball tag now."

"Yay!" Ginny squealed and ran to get her winter gear on. The rest of the children chased after her excitedly. Jackets were zipped, hats were firmly pulled down over ears, fingers were encased in mittens, and feet were shoved into boots. The Weasley children didn't really have snow pants, they just changed when they got inside, so, Harry took a little longer getting ready in his red snowsuit. Once they were all set, they marched outdoors, ready for battle.

"Who's gonna be it?" Ginny asked as she jumped down from the front step of the house. The boys all looked at one another before Percy spoke, obviously deciding he should pick who went first based upon his being the oldest child.

"I will be it first since I am the oldest. Then Fred, then George, then Ronnie, then Harry, then Ginny." Percy stated simply, bending down to start making a snowball. "Remember, no snowballs in the face. If you get hit, you're frozen until someone unfreezes you." He raised his hand in the air, snowball ready. He could manage to be fun sometimes, when it mattered. "Run!"

"Aaaaah!" The younger kids scattered, screaming and dashing away through the snow, arms flailing like their lives depended on it. Percy went easy on them though, being older and faster. He'd had practice with this before, so he knew that Ginny was especially easy to catch, but it was also more fun for her if he pretended to miss her a few times.

"AH!" Fred screamed as a snowball hit him square in the back. He held out a hand, 'frozen' in place. George quickly gathered a snowball and ran for him, but Percy got their first, hitting him in the side. George dropped the snowball and froze in place as well.

"Harry! We've got to save them!" Ronnie shouted, pointing to Fred and George.

"Alright! You get Fred and I'll save George." Harry bent down, gathering up the snow like Remus had shown him, balling it up the best he could in his mittens. Both boys hid behind a snow drift, watching Percy as he stalked after Ginny who was hiding behind a tree. When his back was turned, Harry and Ronnie took off, running as fast as their little booted feet could carry them through the knee deep snow.

Harry slammed his snowball into George's hand just as he heard the cry from Ronnie. He turned and found his friend standing, quite frozen in one place with Ginny not far behind him. She always had a little trouble standing still and was bouncing a bit, but doing her best to remain within her spot.

"Let's go, Harry!" George commanded, rolling up a snowball. Harry did the same. George ran to Fred, dodging Percy's flying snowballs as Harry did the same, making a beeline for Ronnie.

And then a snowball hit in right in the leg. Harry paused, looking down and then looking over at Percy who grinned at him smugly. He'd been hit! He was frozen now too. It was up to the twins to save them now.

Fred and George cam running to the rescue, each planting a snowball in Ronnie and Harry's hands before all four of them ran for Ginny who had moved about five feet away from her original frozen spot. She was being a fairly good sport about it so far, which was saying something. Normally when she got frozen she lasted about thirty seconds before she shouted for help or gave up. It was hard being three.

"Got you Ginny!" Harry laughed as he slapped a snowball into her mittened hand. Ginny squealed with delight.

"Let's get Percy!' Fred shouted. The five children ran at Percy who threw snowballs at them. They were hit repeatedly, but it didn't stop them now. They were impenetrable! And they didn't care.

Percy was promptly tackled down into the snow in a frenzy of flying flakes. Harry laughed as he rolled about with the others, the bunch of them resembling a pile of gamboling puppies. Percy laughed, pushing himself up out of the mess.

"You guys, we're supposed to be playing snowball tag."

"Let's build a fort instead." Suggested George. After an uttering of agreement from the others, they made for the fence where the snow was piled the highest and set to work, digging and gathering, stacking and packing. They had managed to make a fairly good sizable wall when Sirius came out of the house and made his way towards them. The sun was beginning to fade behind the hills in the distance, the sky turning a brilliant, bright orange while the clouds went pink.

"It's time to be thinking about coming inside you lot. It'll be dark soon." Sirius announced.

"Awwww, do we have'ta?" Fred groaned. He and George had been into building the fort the most, working on making it taller and weaving intricate tunnels into a bank behind it for better protection.

"Yeah, we were gonna sleep in our fort as soon as it's finished." George nodded, having made this suggestion fifteen minutes earlier.

"It's too cold for that, you'd freeze. You can play more tomorrow, it's time to come in now." Sirius continued, knowing that negotiating would get him nowhere. The sun would be gone in a matter of minutes and the temperature would drop quite low.

"He's right. We can do this more tomorrow." Percy rose from where he sat and brushed the snow off of his pants. The other kids followed suit, letting Sirius lead them inside to the warmth of the Burrow.

"Harry, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley have invited you to stay over tonight if you'd like." Sirius said before they'd reached the door. Harry's eyes lit up and he looked at Ronnie before looking at Sirius.

"Oh can I, Paddy!? Can I please!?" Harry had never spent the night at the Burrow before. Ronnie had been to his house at night several times now, but never vice versa.

Sirius laughed and tousled his kid's yarn hatted head. "Of course you can." He nodded, knowing it would be good for Harry to spend a night away from home with his friend. He'd been back from his ordeal with the Ministry and having to stay with McGonagall for about six days now and while he wasn't clinging as much during the day time, he had been having a lot of trouble sleeping in his own bed past ten. He would get tucked in at the usual eight and then be up and requesting to sleep in Sirius's bed two hours later without fail. Sirius could swear he sat up waiting to hear him go by on his way to bed before he did so. Spending the night with Ronnie might help him with that a bit as he wouldn't be sleeping alone and would probably be pretty worn out from a day of good playing. "I can send over your night things when I get home."

"…you aren't staying?" Harry blinked after a moment, his smile fading before he attached himself to Sirius's leg, just outside the Burrow door.

"Nah. Grown ups don't have sleepovers like kids do, Harry."

"But Lexie sleeps at our house lots of the time." Harry frowned, confused now.

"That's because she's going to live with us all the time soon, remember? Most of her things are already at our house." Sirius explained simply, knowing this would make much more sense to the four year old than having to explain the who process of girlfriends.

"Oh yeah." Harry nodded, remembering now that Sirius mentioned it. "I think I wanna go home instead."

"Oh Harry, but don't you want to spend the night with Ronnie? It would be so much fun!" Remus suggested as they entered the kitchen.

"Yeah Harry, stay! We can play chess and I'll show you all of my chocolate frog cards." Ronnie offered as he shucked off his hat and mittens.

"I dunno…" Harry pondered. It did sound like a lot of fun to stay the night with Ronnie… but then he also didn't want to be away from his Padfoot and Moony and Lexie for too long…

"Tell you what. How about we give it a try and if you still want to go home by eleven, I'll bring you." Mr. Weasley suggested cunningly. He and Molly were aware of Harry having dependency issues at night, having been asked for advice on the issue by Sirius. Molly had suggested Harry spend the night to sort of break the habit and make it easier for him to realize home and his family would be waiting for him come morning. They weren't going anywhere.

Harry pondered the suggestion over for a minute. He could stay and play with Ronnie a lot more for now and then go home later if he wanted to. He nodded. "Okay, I'll stay."

"Yeah!" Ron whooped excitedly. He'd never had a friend over for the night before and hoped Harry would stay until at least breakfast.

Harry tugged off his winter gear as well now, placing his boots down next to Ronnie's while his mittens and hat were pinned onto a string along the mantle piece to help them dry. Sirius hugged him tightly, followed by Remus. "You be the best behaved boy that we know you can be."

"I will." Harry nodded. "I love you."

"Love you too. See you tomorrow." Moony smiled, kissing the boy's cheek. They bade the Weasley clan goodbye and set off on the trek back home. Harry stood by the door for a moment, getting quite anxious as they left before Ronnie grabbed hold of his sleeve.

"C'mon, Harry. Let's go play some chess."

The two little boys went into the sitting room to resume their game for a while before it was time for dinner. Mrs. Weasley made French onion soup, spaghetti, and freshly baked bread warm from the oven for them to eat. Harry was still a little bit worried about spending the night away from his Padfoot and Moony, but he was glad to be with Ronnie and the rest of the Weasleys. It was always fun watching the twins do something silly and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were also so nice. Even Percy put in a bit extra effort to make him feel at home by offering to let the younger kids pick out one of his precious books to be read later at bedtime. And of course, Ginny was bright and happy about him being there, as she always was.

After dinner, Mrs. Weasley led the three preschoolers upstairs for a bath. Harry had never had baths with others before and was quite excited about this. He and Ronnie had been given a shower together once by Lexie when they'd gone to the beach in the summertime, but never a good old bubble bath! And with Ginny as well! This was going to be so much fun.

As Mrs. Weasley filled the tub with warm water and bubbles, Harry and Ronnie tugged off their clothes before taking turned helping Ginny with the buttons on the back of her dress. There were four of them, that meant they each got to do two each, something they were quite proud of. It was nice, being older and being able to help undo Ginny's buttons for her, Harry thought. It made him even more excited to be a big brother once August rolled around. But for now, he could help look after Ginny.

"Alright you three, in you get." Mrs. Weasley smiled, turning off the tap. Ronnie climbed in with ease. Harry followed after him, the side of the tub a big taller than what he was used to, so he had to maneuver a bit before he flopped down into the warm bubbly water. Ginny needed a little help from her mother to lift her up and into the tub.

As Ginny slid down into the water, Harry blinked, pausing in his reaching for a plastic hippogriff. He turned his attention to Ronnie, remembering something else from the beach trip. When he and Ronnie had changed into swim suits, Hermione had changed in the bathroom, because she was a girl. Ronnie had explained why she was a girl, because he knew from personal experience with Ginny all about girls… but Harry was still a little shocked. "Ronnie, you were right! She dun have a weewee!"

"I does so!" Ginny stated offended, placing her hands on her hips and standing up. She pointed. "I does so! See? It's right dere!"

Mrs. Weasley covered her mouth to keep from laughing. There were some things young children had to work out amongst themselves, though she was there to give appropriate answers to questions and redirect when needed. She'd been through this before though, with all of her boys when Ginny had been born. She had learned it was best to just let the curiosity get out of the way and then life would continue on as it always did.

"But there's no weewee there!" Harry stated back, eyes wide.

"Is so! It's just a different shape cause I'mma girl. And it's better dan yours!" Ginny stuck her tongue out.

"Alright Ginny. That's enough, sit down." Mrs. Weasley stated simply watching as her daughter plopped back down in the water. "Remember, weewees are private and we keep them to ourselves."

"Okay Mummy." Ginny nodded and resumed waving her hands back and forth in the water, making the bubbles move about. Harry, curiosity sated, grabbed up the hippogriff and made it fly about the tub over their heads. Bath time turned out to be just as fun as he had expected it to be. After all of their hair had been washed (they had helped one another with the scrubbing while Mrs. Weasley did all the rinsing), they were allowed to play for a bit. Ronnie was a monster making waves roll over Harry and Ginny, who had to protect the boat from the waves by trying to float it on top of the bubbles.

"Mr. Black sent Harry's bedtime things, Mum." Percy stated, carrying Harry's school bag into the bathroom.

"Oh good, just in time. Thank you, Percy dear." Mrs. Weasley smiled as she scooped one child after another out of the tub and wrapped them in a soft, fluffy towel.

"You're welcome, Mum." Percy smiled and headed back down the stairs, knowing he didn't have to go to bed until eight thirty. The little ones were normally put to bed at eight. Fred and George were eight fifteen because they were a bit older and it was only fair. Right now it was nearly eight.

After everyone had been dried properly and dressed in warm, snuggly, footed winter jammies, Mrs. Weasley had them all brush their teeth at the sink, taking turns with spitting and rinsing. With three clean, happy kids in tow, she led them all into Ginny's bedroom where the youngest of the bunch was properly tucked into bed. "Who do you want to read you your story tonight, darling?"

"You!" Ginny laughed, reaching up to hug her mother around the neck. Harry admired Ginny's little bedroom with a smile. It was happily colored, with teddy bears on the walls and a quilt like the one Ronnie had, only more pink and yellow and purple, made from Ginny's baby clothes.

"Alright dear. You wait right here while I get the boys upstairs, alright?"

"Okay." Ginny nodded. "Roooonnie!" She reached for her brother and Ronnie climbed up onto her bed to hug her.

"Night night Ginny."

"Night night Ronnie. Harrrrry!" Harry climbed up onto the bed as well and gave Ginny a hug too. "Night night Harry."

"Night night Ginny." Harry smiled, glad to be acting like a big brother just like Ronnie always got to. Then they followed Mrs. Weasley up the stairs to Ronnie's room. The two boys clambered into the bed and were tucked in tightly, Mrs. Weasley giving them each a kiss.

"Daddy will be up in a few minutes to read to you. Sweet dreams dears. I love you very much."

"Night night Mummy." Ronnie smiled, hugging her around the neck and kissing her cheek back with a satisfied smile before leaning back against his pillow.

"Night night Mrs. Weasley." Harry beamed as he got his hug and returned the kiss as well, enjoying the tightness and warmth hug full of love.

Once she had left, the two boys giggled, getting squirmy and sitting up. Ronnie picked up his pillow. Harry, getting the idea, did the same. They climbed out of bed and began whacking each other with the pillows.

"Can't get me!" Harry laughed, jumping onto the bed as Ronnie aimed at him. Ronnie laughed as well, ducking Harry's next shot as the door opened and Mr. Weasley entered, carrying a book.

"Alright boys, that's enough. Time to settle down now." He smiled and drew Ronnie's desk chair over to the side of the bed, sitting down. The boys climbed back into bed, resituating their pillows to the proper pillowy positions and lying back as Mr. Weasley began to read to them.

Around page five, Ronnie fell asleep. By page eight, Harry was out like a light as well, the best friends curling up close to one another beneath the quilt. Mr. Weasley smiled and headed downstairs to Floo Sirius to let him know Harry was asleep.

And he slept too. All night, without needing to rise once or go home. Harry slept away from home, away from Sirius, feeling comfortable and safe where he was at. The morning would be full of more fun and the next night, he would sleep in his bed all by himself without needing to relocate to his godfather's bed for reassurance. Mrs. Weasley's theory, of course, would be proven correct.

* * *

Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long, lots and lots of busy stuff going on around here lately! But, good news, I already have the next chapter half written, so it should supposedly be up by Monday. Don't think it's done just because it's been delayed a great deal, I promise, this one shan't end without warning. Thank you for all the lovely reviews as well, I really appreciate each and every one of them very much.

Though, to the person (don't worry dre, I won't name names) who complained that Harry started talking like a 'retard'. He's four and was deprived of proper care for most of his life so far, of course his speech isn't going to be perfect. How many four year olds do you know who have perfectly eloquent pronunciation? Or even adults? Also, as a nanny to two beautiful autistic children, and sister to yet another one, I find your use of the word 'retard' offensive. There is no such thing as a 'retard', there are only beautiful people who have developmental or physical differences that cause people born the definition of normal to look at them funny because 'normal' people don't understand.

Remember guys, I gladly accept criticism, but if you're going to do it, then sign in so we can discuss it properly (if I feel it is something worth explaining) in private. Otherwise I will respond to you here for everyone to see.

My cat is eating dog food... yeah. I dunno why. But he says you should review if you have the time and wish to do so, though it is not a requirement! Even though he is quite adorable. Awww man, we have a kitty-chihuahua battle about to go down! My money's on the dog. She always wins.

Love always, the ever strange and quite insane,

S.Q.O. (who does not promote the fighting of animals unless the battle is simply a couple of barks until the opponent runs.)


	36. Unexpected Play-date

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Thirty-Six: Unexpected Play-Date**_

Sirius placed a magnet over the top of one of Harry's more recent drawings and smiled, leaning back to admire it. The kid was getting better. His stick people now had actual bodies. With odd popsicle stick shaped arms and legs and necks, but still. This one was a particular favorite of Sirius's, due to the fact that Harry had gone and drawn the entire Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team on their brooms. Moony had then placed it in a special potion for a couple of hours so that the people would move, so now they were zooming about back and forth on their brooms, over a green line that was the pitch, in a blue line that was the sky, and tossing about the balls they had been given. Sirius wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure there were at least three Snitches, two Quaffles, and only one Bludger, but then, it was the drawing of a four and a half year old.

As Sirius stepped back to admire the picture one more time, the telephone rang. He jumped a little, not really used to it ringing. Normally only Moony was home when it rang, but as it was that time of the month again, Remus was upstairs sleeping the day away and Sirius was home from work. And typically it only rang when Harry's teacher needed to get a hold of them, or in the afternoon around three, when Hermione usually rang about five times a week so she could chat with Harry. But it wasn't three yet, and Harry was at school, so then, it had to be Miss Nancy.

Grabbing up the phone, Sirius spoke normally, as Remus had told him to do. He didn't need to yell for the other person to hear him. "Hello, Black, Lupin, and Potter residence, Sirius speaking." Remus had also taught him the proper way to greet the other person on the phone.

"Hello, is this Harry's godfather?" A woman's panicked voice sounded from the other end of the phone.

"Yes, it is."

"Oh thank god, this is Marny Scratton's mum? Your Harry is friends with my daughter?"

"Yes, I remember Marny very well. Sweet kid."

"Thanks, well, the thing is, oh I hate to be a bother, but my eldest daughter, she's fourteen, has gotten into some trouble and I actually have to run up to the hospital and…" She choked back a sob.

"I'll get Marny from school, don't worry about it." Sirius paused for a moment, trying to remember the woman. She didn't pick of Marny from school usually, Harry said, it was normally Marny's big sister who did during her lunch time. Sirius had only met the mother once or twice before he'd gone back to work and once on Halloween when they'd stopped to trick-or-treat and offered to take Marny along. Diane. That was her name! And she also had a… "I could look after the baby as well, if you need. That way you can just get to the hospital instead of trying to lug him around with you."

"I don't know how long I'll have to be there. Are you sure you could manage?"

"Positive. I can be there in five minutes. It's the little green house on the corner right?"

"Yes, oh thank god."

"Alright, you go pack them both a bag, and I'll be there shortly."

"Thank you, oh god, thank you."

Sirius hung up the phone and dashed into the front hallway to pull on his boots and jacket. He grabbed Remus's car keys from the hook and went out into the snowy yard, heading for the car. Remus had given him a few lessons, enough so that, should he need to, he could get Harry from school and back without having to worry much about hitting anything. He was good on a motorbike, the car just game as second nature to that.

He drove quickly, the road a little snowy, but not overly so… and the car had some enchantments on it that made it not slip and slide. It could also do some other stuff, things that Arthur Weasley had said were legal to do to a Muggle contraption, like using a sensory charm on the mirrors.

He pulled into the driveway of the little green house in exactly five minutes and three seconds. Diane was already out on the porch, rocking a baby back and forth on her hip.

Sirius smiled, meeting her halfway down the front walk and reaching to take the baby bag and the fabric shopping bag from her in one hand and moving to grab up the little car seat in the other. He dropped the bags into the passenger seat and got the baby seat situated in the center of the back.

"I cannot thank you enough for this…" Diane sobbed slightly, looking wracked beyond all nerves.

"It's no problem." Sirius promised as he took Nathan from her and gave the little guy a tickle. The baby giggled. "In a community this small, we've all got to look out for one another."

"We've been here since August, and I still haven't gotten to really know the neighbors." Diane admitted, reaching out a hand to brush a booger away from her son's face with her sleeve. "I work at night…"

"And with three kids during the day." Sirius nodded in understanding. She was a single mother trying to take care of a baby, a four year old, and a teenager all by herself while probably running on very little sleep and a surplus of coffee.

"I was worried I was going to have to drag Marny along to the hospital, for a four year old that's just.. It would not have been good. And then I remembered how she talks and talks about her friend Harry and how you were nice enough to take her trick-or-treating…"

"I completely understand." Sirius reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Does Miss Nancy know?"

"Yes, I called her right after I hung up with you." Diane leaned forward to kiss Nathan. ":Be a good boy. I love you."

"'uma, 'uma, 'uma!" Nathan crooned back at her, laughing, apparently in a very good mood.

"Are you sure?' Diane asked again as Sirius turned to put Nathan in his seat.

"Yes. And take your time. Don't worry if it gets late. You just do what you have to do for your other daughter right now. Marny and Nathan will be safe and well looked after, I can promise you that. Now get going. She needs you."

"I just… thank you." Diane waved as she ran to her car, purse clacking against her side. "Oh! Marny's…"

Sirius ran over, tugged open the back of her car and pulled out Marny's car seat with ease. "Go."

Diane started the car and pulled out of the driveway, waving as she did so. Sirius waved back and then put Marny's seat in the car next to Nathan's. "Well little guy. It's about time to get that sister of yours from school anyway, so why don't we go do that first and then we'll go back to my place and have an unexpected party?"

Nathan burst into tears now that his mother was gone and Sirius sighed, hushing him and helping him put the binky that was hanging from the collar of his little snow suit into his mouth. He hiccupped and began sucking, teary eyed.

"Yeah, this is going to be a re-learning experience." Sirius laughed, wondering what he'd gotten himself into. He'd done just fine looking after baby Harry when James and Lily had needed sleep. It had been nerve wracking at times, but he had done it. And he was going to be the father of a newborn come August, so he might as well get a little practice in now, on a baby that could actually hold his head up and understand simple sentences. "It'll be okay buddy. Let's go see sissy."

"'issy?" Nathan asked, choking out a sob and sniffling at the name. "Issy, issy, issy!" He bounced in his car seat a little and Sirius smiled, pulling out of the driveway.

He turned the corner and went down towards the school, pulling into the parking lot among the cars of other parents picking up their preschoolers or kindergarteners from the morning classes. He pulled Nathan out of the car seat and situated him on his hip, bouncing a little like Nancy had been doing and as he used to do when Harry was little.

Inside the school was the normal going home chaos that was only to be expected in a room full of four and five year olds. The usual chitter chatter of greetings between children and parents, the putting on of snowsuits and boots and hats and mittens, everyone trying not to crowd the cubby area and shifting to other parts of the room to get each of their kids ready to go home.

"Paddy! Look! I made you a… why do you have a baby, Paddy?" Harry asked in wonderment, frowning as the paper mache mask in his hand drooped a little. He was confused. "I thought my brudder wasn't coming 'til August."

"That's not your brudder, that's my brudder!" Marny laughed, running over with a mask in her hand as well. "Mr. Padfoot, why d'you have Nathan?"

"Because you and Nathan are going to come play at our house today while your mum and sister are busy." Sirius explained simply, knowing he probably shouldn't tell Marny her sister was in the hospital until they'd heard from Diane about her oldest daughter's condition. He didn't know if it was serious or minor, but judging by how frazzled Diane had been, he was sure it wasn't something too minor. It was the hospital after all.

"Really!?" Harry's eyes went wide and he and Marny looked at each other, both gaping for a moment before throwing their arms, and masks, in the air, cheering.

"Alright, let's get ready to go." Sirius stated. "Grab your things and let's head over to the reading area to put them on."

The kids did as they were told, bouncing and happy. They hurried over to the reading area which was used by most of the parents who had babies or toddlers who needed to be set down so they could help their older child get their things on.

Sirius placed Nathan down on his feet and the baby wobbled a bit, but stayed upright on his boots. He was just over a year or so old if Sirius remembered correctly from Harry telling him what Marny had told him about her brother. Nathan immediately reached for the shelf of books, but Sirius let him, helping the two four year olds pull on their snowsuits and boots. He mittened and hatted both, letting them put on their own back packs as he put away the books Nathan had pulled from the shelves. He scooped the baby up. "Alright troops, let's head on out!"

"Yaaay!" Harry whooped and he and Marny grabbed hands, running for the door.

Sirius got them all in the car and back to the house without a problem, listening to the chatter of the two four year olds going back and forth about their morning at school punctuated by the occasional word put in by Nathan who refused to be left out of the action.

"And then we painted them!" Harry announced as he took off his boots and kicked them aside to the drying mat next to the door.

"I made mine a sun!" Marny smiled, holding up her mask as she too, kicked her boots to put them near Harry's.

"Sun, sun!" Nathan responded, nodding his head as Sirius undressed him and then began coughing.

"Whew, someone stinks." He held the baby at arm's length. "Smells like you could use a new nappie, mate."

Nathan giggled, kicking his legs and clapping his hands even more happily. "'appie! 'appie!" He enjoyed speaking a great deal and was feeling better now that his familiar big sister was around.

"Harry, you and Marny can go into the kitchen and…" Sirius paused after a moment, remembering all of the wizarding things about the house. Marny was a Muggle… what was the legal process for this? "Actually, why don't you two go up to your playroom while I change Nathan?" There. That was the best plan. Harry's playroom contained mostly Muggle items except for Harry's toy broomstick that he was only allowed to fly outside after an incident involving a vase and tears.

"Okay Paddy." Harry nodded and led Marny upstairs to his playroom while Sirius quickly went about the house, immobilizing photos and stashing away wizarding items in one of the high up kitchen cupboards. He jotted a quick not to Tricia, asking about what the proper protocol was when it came to magic and Muggle children under the age of seven. Once it was sent, he carried Nathan into the living room and retrieved the baby bag from the hallway.

"Alright buddy. Let's get you changed." Sirius placed down the changing pad from the bag, put Nathan on it, and balked slightly as he pulled open the snaps on the legs and crotch of Nathan's baby jammies, the smell getting worse with every layer removed. Harry had had some stinkers in his diaper days too, but Sirius couldn't remember any of them being this bad. Perhaps his nose just didn't want to remember.

Sirius braced himself, removed the plastic pants and diaper, coughed and tried not to die as he folded it up and set it aside before getting Nathan cleaned up and a fresh diaper under his bottom. Just as he went to lift the new diaper up and over to pin it, the damn broke loose. Nathan burst out in laughter of pure delight as Sirius got a face full of wee. He had forgotten about that particular diaper changing problem.

Sputtering and trying to regain composure, Sirius stemmed the flow with the new diaper and then grabbed yet another fresh one. He managed to get this one folded up and pinned properly before adding a new pair of plastic pants and getting Nathan's jammies back on properly. He shot a spell at both dirty diapers, making them fairly clean before tossing them into the laundry room and returning to pick Nathan, who was quite enthralled with staring at Harry's wall of colorings, and made his way up the stairs. Halfway up he met Remus, who was blurry eyed. Without a word, he handed off the baby and went straight into the bathroom to shower.

Remus looked at the baby curiously, not exactly sure as to why he was suddenly holding a baby and had not been two seconds ago.

"Marny's head's stuck in the bucket!" Harry called as he came out of his playroom, followed by his friend who had a red bucket on her head. He ran down the stairs, slipped on the edge of one of them and tumbled downwards. Remus acted quickly, grabbing Harry up by the ankle as he slid by, hoisting him into the air so that he was hanging upside-down, glasses askew on his nose. Right then, the front door opened and Lexie entered carrying a box and Marny took a few wobbly steps and slammed into a nearby wall, falling backwards.

Lexie stared at the scene before her and set the box down next to the door before rushing forward to catch the rest of Harry. "What in Merlin's name is going on here?"

"I just woke up. I haven't the foggiest." Remus admitted, letting go of Harry's ankle now that he was safe. Lexie set Harry down and shot up the stairs to help Marny tug the bucket off of her head. "Well, I know this little girl. How are you, Marny?"

"Good." Marny laughed, rubbing at her ears which were slightly red from being pressed on by the bucket. She headed down the stairs to where Harry was waiting at the bottom.

"Where's Sirius?" Lexie asked after a moment, looking around the landing before noticing the rarely shut bathroom door was closed. She banged on it. "Sirius?"

"Baby wee! In my mouth!" Sirius called back, knowing that that would explain why he was in the bathroom at the moment.

"Well then." Lexie laughed and followed Remus the rest of the way down the stairs.

"So, Marny, this is an unexpected visit." Remus smiled, setting Nathan down on the floor where he stood before toddling into the living room where he grabbed up one of Harry's books and began chewing away at the corner of it. He flopped down on the floor, content for the time being.

"Mr. Padfoot said Mummy is busy so me an' Nathan are playing here today." Marny explained with a bright smile. She was all pigtails and her school uniform, which was quite cute.

"Well then, that's wonderful!" Lexie said, eyeing Nathan to make sure he wasn't getting into anything he shouldn't.

"Have you guys had lunch yet?"

"Nope." Harry shook his head and then he and Marny followed Remus into the kitchen while Lexie scooped up Nathan and carried him in as well. Remus quickly heated up some left over lasagna from last night for the two older children and the adults of the house. By the time it was done, Sirius came into the kitchen, hair a bit damp still, but clean of wee.

"Oh good." He smiled, glad to see everything was currently handled. "I'll go get Nathan's back and see if he's got anything to eat in it. If not, I bet we can scavenge something up." He left the room and returned a moment later with the baby bag. He set it on the table and dug into it, searching, with a little help from Marny, for jars of baby food. They found several as well as a small lunchbox full of packets of white liquid.

"That's milk." Marny explained as Sirius eyed one of the packets curiously. "Mummy makes it and saves what Nathan dun drink. When she's gotta work, Natalie puts one of these in his bottle and heats it up. Then she puts on the top and shakes it so it's all the same temperature. But it can't be too hot, so you gotta test it on your wrist."

"How does your mummy make milk?" Harry asked quite curiously. He had never heard of anyone making milk before. All he knew was that milk came from cows and farmers squirted it into a pan before it got put into bottles and sent to the stores or the milk man like the one who had delivered at Privet Drive.

"With her breasts, cause she's a mummy. That's how mummies makes milk for babies." Marny laughed, seeming to find his question quite silly. "You'll see when you have your brudder."

"Wow!" Harry's eyes grew wide and he looked down at his chest before looking over at Lexie. "Are you gonna make milk like Marny's mummy?"

"Of course, just like your mummy did for you." Lexie laughed, reaching out to pat his head, knowing that this was a slightly uncomfortable conversation for the men in the room. But babies and breasts were perfectly normal, and if she didn't make a big deal out of it, Harry wouldn't either when the time came.

"I drinked baby milk?"

"Drank. And yes, of course you did! Babies don't have teeth enough to eat big people food, so they have to start with milk and then work their way up to baby food and other things."

"Nathan can eat cereal now too." Marny beamed proudly. She seemed a little more keen on her brother since the last time she'd discussed him. Back on Halloween she'd found him more of a burden than something to be proud of.

"Ah yes, I remember the days of creating a path of cereal along the floor for a certain baby to follow after." Lexie laughed, patting Harry's head. "It was always quite fun." She took a jar of baby food from Sirius and undid the lid while he found a spoon as well before he sat down and started working on feeding Nathan. The baby, it seemed, was quite hungry, though a bit messy.

"When does Nathan eat, Marny?"

"Before school, after school, a bottle when Natalie gets home from school, dinner time, and he gets a bottle before bedtime." Marny stated, glad to be able to provide her knowledge of her brother to these silly adults who didn't seem to know much.

"He eats a lot then." Harry laughed. Once he and Marny were finished eating, they went to change out of their school clothes into play clothes, Marny having found the bag her mother sent for her in the hallway.

"Can't catch me! Can't catch me!" Harry called as he ran around in circles on his favorite track to run. He ran from hallway, to living room, to kitchen, to dining room, and back into the hallway. It was a nice big circle and easy to get through as there were never that many obstacles in the way. After about fifteen minutes of the kids chasing one another around the house, Remus had the bright idea to bring down Harry's pedal train so they could take that in circles instead.

The two preschoolers boarded the train, Harry driving the engine while Marny sat in the car. Harry pedaled, pushing the train along with ease while Marny helped him with the choo-choo noises. When Nathan was done eating, Lexie placed him safely in his sister's lap and the ride continued, a bit slower (the added weight slowed Harry down a bit) but still just as circley and fun as before. After a while, the two kids switched so that Marny could drive the train and Harry, excitedly, got to hold Nathan.

Harry had never gotten to hold a baby before, so it was quite a thrill for him, hugging his arms around the tinier body that squirmed a lot. Harry was very pleased at his ability to hold a baby and ride in the train at the same time. That is until, he got puked on.

"PADDY! Nathan throwed-up on me!" Harry called from the living room. Sirius hurried to his rescue, taking the baby and handing him off to Remus before taking a wet towel to Harry's shirt. "Yuck. Do babies always throw up?"

"Yeah, it's pretty normal." Sirius laughed, tugging Harry's shirt up and over his head. Fortunately that was all that had been hit. "Do you want me to help you find a new shirt?"

"Okay." Harry nodded and they went upstairs together. Sirius dug into Harry's dresser while the little boy sat on his bed, pondering.

"Paddy?" He asked as Sirius tugged a clean shirt over his head. "Is our baby going to be messy like Nathan?"

"Very messy." Sirius nodded. "And he'll have stinky nappies, and cry a lot, but that won't last for too long."

"Did I stink and cry?"

"Of course you did. Every baby does." Sirius nodded as he watched Harry put his arms through his sleeves. "It can't be helped because that's how they tell us that they need something, because they can't talk."

"Oh." Harry nodded in understanding, though he was getting more and more wary of this whole baby situation. Was his brother going to be loud and cry a lot? He didn't think he would like that very much., He didn't think he would like stinky nappies either. "Paddy, I want a brudder, but can I have one that isn't a baby instead? We dun really need to keep the one in Lexie's tummy, do we?"

Sirius burst out laughing, ruffling his hair. "Sorry mate, but the only way you're getting a brother or sister is the baby from Lexie's tummy. It won't be all bad, I promise."

"Okay." Harry heaved a sigh, not so sure now. He was still kind of looking forward to a brother, but not so much to the idea of stinking and crying.

Marny's mother still hadn't called by dinner time, so Remus cooked up some grilled cheese and tomato soup for all of them while Lexie broke out another jar of baby food for Nathan. Sirius spent this time chilling with the four year olds and helping them finish their homework, which had been put off in light of today's special circumstances.

"I am best at hugging." Harry concluded as Sirius helped him fill out his chart. Harry and Marny had booklets with sentences in them that they had to finish and draw a picture for. Harry smiled, liking his booklet and opening it to the first page to read it aloud again. He did this every time he finished a sentence. "My name is Harry Potter. My birthday is 31 July. I am four years old. My favorite color is red. My favorite food is treacle tarts. I am best at hugging."

"Awesome, Harry!" Sirius beamed, glad that the last sentence was finished and Harry could draw his hugging picture. "What about you Marny? Can you read yours?"

Marny looked at her booklet, not able to read as well as Harry could. Harry was advanced in his reading, at more of a first grade level than preschool. "I need help."

"Alright then, let's see." Sirius smiled and took her booklet, opening it so she could look at it as well. "My name is Marny Scratton. My birthday is 1 September. I am four years old. My favorite color is yellow. My favorite food is pizza. I am best at dancing. Wow Marny, this is excellent as well." Marny beamed with pride.

The phone rang shortly after dinner, when everyone was in the sitting room playing a rousing game of Duck, Duck, Goose. Knowing it was probably Diane, Sirius got up to answer it.

"Hello, Black, Lupin, and Potter residence, Sirius speaking."

"Sirius? It's Diane."

"I thought so." Sirius smiled. "How are things going? How's Natalie?"

"She's… well she and some of her friends decided that they wanted to jump off of the bridge above the river?"

"Oh good god!" Sirius gasped, having driven over that bridge many times before. It wasn't that high up, but jumping off of it in winter? Well, that was probably one of the single most stupidest things someone could do. The water didn't freeze completely over and the bottom was quite rocky. "Is she alright?"

"The doctors say she'll be fine, but she has to stay in the hospital until Monday until she's healed up some more and been through some physiological testing. How are my other babies?"

"They're doing just peachy. Marny's homework is finished and Nathan took a nice two hour nap around three. Marny is being such a good big sister and helping keep him to him normal schedule."

"Oh that's good to hear! She's been much better with him lately than she used to be. I think it's because he's started sleeping through the night, so she's a lot less cranky with him."

"That's great!" Sirius smiled, glad to hear that Nathan did indeed sleep through the night. "Any idea on how long you'll be stuck at the hospital?"

"At least tonight but I'm not sure about tomorrow. If it's too much trouble though, I can easily come back and get the kids or call my sister. She lives around London."

"Well, they're perfectly welcome here for as long as you need. Harry is thrilled to have Marny here and Nathan is a good boy."

"Well if they get to be a burden…"

"Which they won't."

"…feel free to just say so and I'll come straight home for them."

"Honestly, I dunno as Lexie is going to let you have Nathan back. She keeps monopolizing his affections." Sirius laughed, peering out the kitchen door to where Lexie was going around the Duck, Duck, Goose circle with the baby firmly on her hip. "But then, it might also be the hormones."

"Oh that's right! You're going to have a little one this summer. Well, you can borrow him for practice whenever." Diane laughed, seeming to be feeling a bit better now that she knew her children were doing well. "Can I talk to them?"

"Of course. Marny! Mum's on the phone."

"Oh!" Marny dashed into the kitchen and took the phone, followed closely by the rest of the troops. "Hi mummy."

"Are you being a good girl?"

"Yes I am. I did my homework and helped take care of Nathan too. When are you gonna be home?"

"Probably not for a day or two sweetheart. Natty isn't feeling well, so I have to stay with her at the hospital for a bit, but she'll be better really soon. Are you okay staying with Harry?"

"Yeah, I like Harry's house. It's lotsa fun! Is Natty super, super sick?"

"No, not super super sick. She's just sick enough to be in the hospital for a little while, like that time she had to get her tonsils out. But don't worry, she'll be home soon too."

"Ooooh, okay."

"Okay sweetie, you be a good girl alright? Let me talk to Nathan now. I love you."

"I love you, Mummy. Nathan, it's mummy!" Marny held the phone up and Lexie took it and held it to Nathan's ear so he could hear his mother. When that was finished, Sirius took it back.

"See? They're doing just fine."

"I can rest easy now, that's for sure. Thank you so much for everything Sirius. I don't know what I would do without your help. Oh! Before I forget, if the kids need anything from the house, Marny has a key in the smallest inside pocket of her backpack. There's extra baby food in the pantry, nappies in the nursery, and milk in the freezer. But I don't think I'll be away for so long that you'll need to get extra supplies, but just in case."

"Alright, that's good to know. Remember, take your time. Don't rush home because you feel like you need to. We've got everything covered here." Sirius reassured her. They bid one another goodbye and hung up.

"Well, it's about bed time you lot." Remus said after a moment. "Let's head up and get teeth brushed and jammies on." The four year olds trooped upstairs, Marny toting along her bag.

"Marny, are you gonna sleep in my room with me?" Harry asked her as they scrubbed at their tiny teeth with little brushes. He spat into the sink and took a sip of water to help wash the rest of the tooth paste out of his mouth.

"Yeah!" Marny nodded, spitting as well before taking the water cup and rinsing as well. "Or maybe we could sleep in the fort!?" She suggested excitedly after a moment of pondering. Harry's eyes grew wide and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes! Let's sleep in the fort! Oh Moony, can we?" Harry begged, looking up at the werewolf with those eyes of his.

"That does sound like a splendid idea." Moony nodded. "Let's get your bed things."

Harry and Marny changed into jammies and then gathered up Harry's sleeping bag, blankets, and pillows, carrying them downstairs to the living room where the fort was. It was just large enough for both of them to lay down in comfortably.

Seeing what they were doing, Sirius disappeared from the room momentarily before returning with the playpen he'd transfigured out of a shoebox. He unfolded it and set it up on the floor close by to the fort. "Let's have a special living room camping night!"

"Yeah!" Harry and Marny cheered, throwing their arms in the air and dancing about. Things like this were quite exciting when you were four. Sirius laughed at their reaction as he helped Remus pull out the sofa bed, turning the couch into a comfy place for sleeping.

Remus headed upstairs to get more blankets and pillows and set himself up on the large window seat, it being just long enough for him to stretch out on comfortably.

"Alright, everyone come here." Sirius stated, sitting down on the sofa bed with a book. Lexie sat down beside him, Nathan in her lap. Harry climbed into Sirius's lap while Remus pulled Marny up into his. They all relaxed into the pillows (or grown ups) and settled in for a nice story. When it was finished, the four year olds were tucked in beneath the gauzy fort. Nathan was swaddled and rocked with a bottle until he passed out and was set to sleep in the play pen. The adults dimmed the lights and settled down, mostly conversing quietly amongst themselves while listening to the occasional chatter from the two older children before settling down into bed themselves.

* * *

I promised you another chapter by Monday and look, there it is! :D I really enjoyed writing this one as it's a bit different from the other ones in that it includes a lot more Marny! I really do love Marny a lot, and Nathan of course. I felt it would be good to see Harry's reaction to an actual baby before he gets his I kind of just wanted Sirius to get peed on. Bahahaha! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I do! Let me know what you think if you want, I always appreciate it!

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	37. Wishes for Remus

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Thirty-Seven: Wishes for Remus**_

"I really cannot thank you enough." Diane sighed as her hands wrapped around the cup of hot tea Remus had just poured her. It was Saturday morning and Diane had finally been able to leave the hospital, though Natalie was still there. She needed a lot more help than it had been initially thought. Not wanting to leave her, but knowing her other two children needed her as well, she'd made the hard decision between the two. Natalie was safe at the hospital for now. "I just… I didn't know what to do."

"Like I told you on Thursday, Diane. We're a little community and we've got to look out for one another." Sirius assured her.

"It really was no trouble at all for us." Lexie added as she shook a recently heated bottle about to get the contents to an even temperature before she tested it and handed it off to Nathan who was leaning against his mother quite contently. Harry and Marny were in the living room working on the big block castle they'd started Friday afternoon. It was now Saturday morning and they could be heard chattering back and forth about this and that regarding the blocks or who was going to live there or what they were going to call it. Harry's obvious choice had been Hogwarts, but Marny had said that sounded silly and it should be Buckingham Palace, not that either four year old knew what Buckingham Palace looked like. To them a castle was a castle. "They've both been wonderful."

"Yeah, wonderful." Sirius grinned, feeling that it would be quite off-putting of him to mention that he'd gotten peed on. "How's Natalie doing?"

"She's better. It's hard to believe she'd actually do something like this, but then again, at the same time, it's not."

"Did she say why she jumped off the bridge?"

"Apparently it was her school mates' idea. The friends she has now aren't exactly the best sort and we've moved around so much in the past year and a half that it's been nearly impossible for her to make friends. So she's been hanging out with the first kids who accepted her into their little group here and it's just been… she's a good girl normally. But lately she's been getting more and more angry and out of control. I was almost scared to leave the little ones with her some nights, but I didn't have much choice. She blames me for everything lately, not that I don't understand, she has every right to angry."

"Is it because you've moved around a lot?" Lexie asked, sitting down at the table.

"That, mostly. She knows that every moved we've made has been for the better. And she's had it rough. My first husband left us, when she was five. Then my second husband was a wonderful man and he was a good father to her and to Marny but things sort of got twisted when we found out we were expecting Nathan. He just gradually began to lose it. Too much pressure of responsibility, I guess. So we left when I was six months pregnant, when things had gotten quite rough with him and it was not a good environment for the children at all. We went just around the country, searching for a good place to stay and call home. But there was either not enough work or it was too expensive, or something. It was always something. And we had to move on. And then we found this town. And it's mostly perfect. It's little and safe, the schools are decent and I have work." Diane heaved a sigh, as though this had been weighing on her shoulders for quite some time. She sipped at her tea with one hand, holding Nathan's bottle for him with the other. "And the only problem with it, is there is no day care center anywhere."

"Really?" Sirius blinked, having not known this. They were lucky of course, being a family of three adults and one child. He worked, Lexie worked, and Remus stayed home and looked after Harry during the weekday afternoons. No one wanted to hire a werewolf, though it wasn't for lack of trying on Moony's part.

"Really. I asked Miss Nancy on the girls' first day of school, and she said the only day care in town had closed down years ago when the family who ran it out of their home moved away. Most of the single parent families in town have a neighbor watch the kids, or a teenager after school." Diane explained sadly. "Unfortunately we haven't been able to establish something like that, so Natalie has to watch the kids while I work."

"That's awful." Remus frowned. What kind of town didn't have a day care center? He reached out a hand to Diane and placed it on her shoulder. "Listen, I would be more than happy to watch Marny and Nathan during the day."

"Oh, I couldn't do that to you. They're precious but they can be a lot to handle. And you've already got Harry to look after."

"The more the merrier. At least think on it before you say no."

"Okay, I'll think on it." Diane smiled and lifted one arm as Nathan's bottle rolled away from him, the baby having fallen fast asleep, ready for his morning nap.

After a bit of coaxing, Diane decided to go back to the hospital to be with Natalie that afternoon. As Sirius told her to convince her, Marny and Nathan really didn't need her as much as Natalie did at the moment. They were fine where they were, playing and being happy.

Remus spent a lot of time pacing about the house, picking up after kids with his thinking face on. Sirius and Lexie left him to it, taking the two older children outside while Nathan took his second nap that afternoon around three. Remus paused in the living room, looking down at the sleeping baby in the playpen. He was so content, his little chest heaving up and down slowly. He sat down on the couch, shifting a stuffed badger into his lap and just watching the baby sleep for a bit. He was still at it when the other came in, laughing and pink cheeked. Most of the snow was melting, having lasted longer this year than it normally did, but the kids were always up for a romp in the remaining slush.

"What you up to mate?" Sirius finally asked as he entered the living room, swinging Harry up like an airplane as he hollered.

"High Paddy! Higher!"

"I want to open a day care center." Remus said as he looked up and set the badger aside.

Sirius set Harry down. "That sounds like a great idea, Moony, but it'd be impossible to have kids running around here all the time. I mean, Muggle kids… It's been hard enough blocking things from…"

"My goodness, Marny! Your socks are soaked straight through!" Lexie's voice sounded from the hallway.

"I know. I was thinking maybe of finding some sort of building closer to town, something no one's using and sprucing it up. Only problem is, there is no way I can afford to buy a building. It's just an idea I had." Remus sighed and rose from the couch. "I'm going to get started on dinner."

"Marny's socks are alllll wet!" Harry's little voice chimed happily, laughing as he ran from hallway to living room, a sock held in each hand, waving them above his head now.

"Harry! My socks!" Marny chased after him.

"Moony, you know if it's something you really want to do, I can help you do it." Sirius followed him into the kitchen.

"Sirius, you're already doing so much for me. This house and just… everything." Remus heaved a sigh, opening the fridge and pulling out a package of chicken. "And what do I do? I watch Harry. I'll watch the new baby when he or she comes and Lexie eventually goes back to work, because you and I both know she won't be able to stand being gone from it for more than a few months. And I help with the cooking and cleaning as well, but…"

"Moony…" Sirius took the chicken and set it down on the counter. "Listen to me. I would be lost without you. All of this Harry stuff, we get through because of you. We have this house because you knew the perfect realtor. When we all got sick, you took care of all of us. You are one of the only true family members I've got left and if there's something you need or want to do and you need help doing it, I am right here. I think I day care center is a fantastic idea. The town needs one and it would give you a job doing what you love doing, teaching. They would be tiny students, but, let's face it, no way could any of us teach older Muggles when we only know reading and writing and maths. And the beauty of Muggles, is no one can discriminate against you because of your condition."

"Sirius, there's no way I'm letting you buy a building. Besides, I'd probably need all these different qualifications to run a day care center. Muggle certificates saying I know all about child development and have experience…"

"Then we had best get to the library, hadn't we?" Sirius grinned at his old companion with a bright smile.

"There's still no way I'm letting you buy me a building."

"Leeeeexie!" Sirius called and Lexie poked her head into the kitchen.

"What did you burn?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering, usually people don't have much choice in the matter of what they receive for their birthdays as gifts right?"

"Sirius, you wouldn't…" Remus began but the cocky grin on Sirius's face was enough of an answer.

"No, I don't believe they do. What is it you're getting Remus for his birthday that he thinks is too extravagant?" Lexie laughed as she entered the kitchen fully, reaching out a hand to ruffle Remus's hair while he hid his face in his hands.

"A place to start a day care in. Nothing too large, just big enough to hold about fifteen kids. Of course, we'll need to see what the rules and regulations are first."

"Oooh Remus! A day care? That would be wonderful!" Lexie beamed, absolutely delighted at this idea. She hugged Remus. "We'll go to the library and look things up, and we could consult one of those Muggle legal people… an attorney. And see what he says."

"You guys, I really appreciate the idea of it, but I really don't think it would be right for Sirius to buy…"

"Do you hear something, Lexie?"

"Nope." Lexie smiled as she cut open the package of chicken.

…...

"Paddy, where're we going?" Harry asked as he strode alongside his godfather, holding tightly onto his hand. Sirius had wanted to spend some time with just him and Harry today, before they had Remus's birthday part later that afternoon. He had said he didn't want any big to-do or anything, so they had, of course, planned just a small party amongst themselves. Diane had come by earlier that morning to take Marny and Nathan over to the hospital to see Natalie as she had been asking for them. The hospital was keeping her until they felt it was safe to let her go, so Diane was going to stay home and visit her every couple of days in the morning while Marny was at school. Then Marny and Nathan would spend the nights that Diane had to work at the Black Lupin Potter home.

So Sirius felt it rather prudent to give Remus a morning to just relax and read for a while without little ones underfoot. And of course, time alone with Harry was important as well. He hadn't been getting that as often lately and he missed it.

"Well, Prongslet, you and I are going to find you a present to give to Moony for his birthday today. So I thought you and I could come to London and look about Diagon Alley."

"But Paddy, we just were by Diagon Alley." Harry laughed, pointing back towards the Leaky Cauldron where he and his godfather had just flooed to about ten minutes ago.

Sirius smiled, lifting Harry a little to help him jump over a slightly icy puddle on the sidewalk. "Well, I was thinking you and I could also do some special secret shopping. Can you keep a secret, Harry?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, eyes alight at this idea of secret shopping. He had never really done that before except back around Christmas time. But boy, did he sure like to be let in on a secret! Especially one that wasn't his own. "What're we secret shopping for, Paddy?"

"You and I are going to look at a very secret store, so I can't say until we get there, alright?"

"Okay Paddy." Harry whispered as best as a four year old can, which is not exceptionally well. He laughed as he jumped over another puddle, landing smack down in the center of it on purpose and they continued on their way down the busy London sidewalk, making through way past shop after shop. Harry quite enjoyed looking at all the displays in the windows. It wasn't very often he got to go shopping like this. Moony normally got the groceries while he was at school and even if they went in the afternoon, the grocery store wasn't nearly as fun as all these different looking shops.

"Here we are." Sirius steered Harry towards the door of a very shiny looking shop and Harry entered before him, his eyes widening as he looked all around.

"Oooo, Paddy. This is a pretty shop." Harry remarked, admiring all the pretty trinkets everywhere. There were necklaces and bracelets hanging on strands. Earrings and hair pieces and rings and large pins. Watches and cuff links. Everything was so shiny Harry quite thought the sun must be shining within the shop itself. Sirius kept a hold of his hand and led him forward to the back of the shop where there were quite a few glass cases displaying even more shiny baubles. Harry pressed one hand to the front of a glass case, moving his face in close to get a good look at all of the pretty things glittering before him.

"Hands!" A man came hurrying over. "Don't touch the glass, young man. I've just cleaned it."

"Oh…" Harry frowned jumping backwards, biting his lip and looking up at Sirius, worried that he was in trouble. But Sirius just smiled back down at him.

"It's alright, mate." Sirius reassured him. "Here, just take one step back and look from there, that way you don't get fingerprints on the glass."

Harry nodded and did as he was told, not wanting to misbehave for fear that he wouldn't be allowed to find out what the secret was and why they were in the shiny shop.

"Now then, what can I help you with?" The man asked as he straightened his tie, looking a little calmer now that the glass of the case was safe from little hands.

"We're looking an engagement ring." Sirius explained, his eyes trailing the cases. "Something simple and not gaudy. I was thinking more towards silver than gold in color and I was hoping to also make it a kind of mother's ring."

"We do do custom orders, though I've never done a combination ring like the before. I suppose it's possible. How many gems are we looking at to represent the children?" The man asked curiously, waving a hand for them to follow him over to one of the glass cases.

"Just two. I was thinking one on either side of the diamond."

"Ah, that shouldn't be too difficult. We have lots of rings with three gem places. Ah, like this one." The man went behind the case and unlocked it, pulling out a ring with a large square diamond in the center and two smaller ones on either side of it. Sirius smiled.

"Yeah, sort of like that, only daintier."

"Paddy, what're we getting a ring for?" Harry asked, tugging as his sleeve as the man went back down behind the case to keep looking.

"Well Harry, I was thinking maybe you and I would marry Lexie."

"Both of us?"

"Well, no. Just me, but kind of you too, since then she would officially be your mum. Well, not your real mum, but…"

"But as good as." Harry nodded, understanding that concept already. He didn't have his daddy, but he had his Paddy and he was as good as a daddy. If he married Lexie, then she would be as good as a mummy.

"Right!" Sirius beamed, ruffling his hair and turning his attention back to the man as he came up with another possible ring.

Harry watched for a couple more rings before leaving his godfather's side and wandering down the case a bit. He was only looking, knowing not to touch the glass now and to stay close enough to Padfoot that he could see him. He looked at the pretty things, admiring all the different shaped and sizes and colors. He'd seen bits of jewelry on his Aunt Petunia, sometimes on Lexie and other times on ladies when he did go to the grocery store with Moony, but he'd never really gotten the chance to look at them properly. He hadn't known there were so many different kinds of things.

He was admiring a necklace with lots of pretty red pebbles in it when a bit of silver caught his eye.

A small ring sat towards the corner of the case, seeming quite lonely and forgotten. Harry thought it was very pretty though, a thin band of silver made into vines and leaves and topped with a little green stone in the middle and two little orange ones on either side of it. He looked up to where Padfoot was still talking to the man and shaking his head. Both were looking more and more disappointed.

Deciding that Padfoot needed a little cheering up, Harry went back over to him and tugged at his hand. "Paddy come see."

"Not right now, Harry. What about that one there?"

"Paaaadddy!" Harry tugged harder now, getting impatient.

"Harry, one minute." Sirius placed a hand down on top of his head, looking at the next ring the man was holding out. "I'm just not sure… it's not… right."

Harry pouted, heaving a sigh. He waited a couple of moments, for what felt like a minute before he grabbed Padfoot's hand and tugged at it hard. Sirius looked down at him and finally, followed.

"Harry, we really need to find a…"

"Look Paddy!" Harry stopped and pointed to the lonesome pretty ring in the corner of the case. Sirius blinked, looking down at Harry and then at the ring. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Yes, Harry, it's very, very pretty." Sirius nodded. "Um… how about this one down here? Can we see it?"

The man came down to the very end of the case and opened it up. "This one?" He asked, pulling out the little vine ring. "It's not exactly the type of ring one gives for an engagement. It's more suited for a young lady's sweet sixteen or something similar.

Sirius broke into a grin, lifting Harry up.

"I beg to differ, that is the perfect ring. Harry, you brilliant little boy!"

"I found the ring!?" Harry asked, surprised. He had only wanted to show it to Padfoot because he thought it quite pretty. And now Padfoot wanted to get it for Lexie!

"You found the ring, that is of course…" Sirius turned his attention back to the jewelry man. "What size is it?"

"A six."

"Perfect and is it possible to switch the gems out?"

"Of course, we do specialize in placing gems." The man nodded and Sirius spun Harry around again, hugging him tightly, so happy they'd finally found the right ring. "So, you'd like a diamond in the center?"

"Yes." Sirius nodded confirmation, holding Harry on his hip now, still beaming. "And the birthstones for July and August on either side of it."

"Ah, a ruby and a peridot, quite the unique combination, if I do say so myself." The man smiled, pulling a box from beneath the counter and placing the ring gently into it. He pulled a note card from his jacket pocket and scribbled down upon it. "Your name?"

"Sirius Black."

"S. Black….. I can have it done in about two hours depending on how busy the shop gets. However, if you would like to return on another day, I can give you a ring when it's finished."

Sirius nodded, giving the man their home phone number, but saying they would be back in two hours to check and see if it was ready anyway. Once they were finished, Sirius took Harry's hand and they left the shop, making their way down the sidewalk again.

"Next we get a present for Moony?" Harry asked as they went along.

"Yes." Sirius nodded. "Keep your eyes out though as we pass by the shops, you might see something you'd like to give him."

"Okay." Harry nodded seriously and did as he was told, looking at each shop, but not really seeing anything he thought Moony might like very much. It had to be a good present after all.

After seeing nothing of interest in any of the Muggle shops they passed by and having gone into a couple of them just to be sure, Harry and Sirius made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron where they went through onto Diagon Alley.

Harry really liked Diagon Alley, although he had only been there once before. It was full of magical things and wonderful smells one didn't always find walking by the Muggle shops.

"Ooo, look Paddy! A bookstore." Harry pointed, jumping up and down. If there was something he knew Remus loved, it was books. He tugged at Sirius and they went into Flourish and Blott's, Harry's eyes widening at the stacks upon stacks of books and shelves that were here. "Wooow!"

"This would be the perfect store to fine something for Moony." Sirius agreed as Harry looked about, his eyes going from cover to cover, trying to locate something he thought Moony might like.

"Here Harry, what about this one?"

Harry looked up to find Sirius holding a big book entitled A Wizards' Guide to Getting the Ladies. Harry shook his head, not sure what that book was about, but it looked pretty weird to him. Sirius chuckled, setting the book back down as Harry trailed deeper into the shop.

"Ooo, Lookit, Paddy! Werewolves!" Harry pointed to a section label and started for it, but Sirius grabbed hold of him quickly, shaking his head.

"That section probably doesn't have very many nice books, Harry. Let's go look over there at the stationary sets. I think he could probably use a new quill."

"Why aren't the werewolf books nice, Paddy?" Harry asked curiously, turning his head to look back at the section before following Sirius over to the stationary section of the shop. Here there were all different types of quills and parchment and more types of ink than Harry could count.

"Because most people think werewolves are scary and are not very nice to them. So they like to write mean books about them." Sirius explained simply, holding up a pretty peacock feather quill. "What about this one?"

"Nah." Harry shook his head, pondering this over. "But werewolves aren't really scary, only when they're wolves."

"Our family knows that, but a lot of people don't because they don't really know any werewolves like we do. People tend to be afraid of things they can't understand or haven't tried to understand, Prongslet."

"Well that's not nice."

"No, it isn't nice. But that's the way it is."

"When I'm big I'll write a nice book about werewolves so everyone can see how nice they are." Harry stated after a couple moments of looking through the inks and choosing out a sparkly red one. "Ooo, Paddy, I like this one for Moony."

"I like it too. Let's find him a quill and some parchment to go with it, hmm?" Sirius suggested, smiling at Harry's idea. If Harry Potter were to write a book, people would be certain to read it.

"Okay." Harry nodded and they kept looking. He eventually picked out a very nice green and red parrot quill and some pretty parchment that came with envelopes. As an after thought, they also grabbed a wax seal with an M on it. Pleased, Harry purchased his gifts for Moony (Sirius let him hand the shopkeeper the money) and they headed back out onto the street, carrying along their bag of goodies.

"Hey, we've still got a bit of time before we need to head back to check on the ring, how about we grab some ice cream?" Sirius suggested, taking the heavy bag from Harry.

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, jumping up and down in excitement. They turned around and headed deeper down the alley, making their way towards Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor, Harry skipping along as he hung onto one of Sirius's hands. Sirius was glad it was still chilly enough out to be wearing hats and coats, glad for the fact that Harry's hat covered up his scar. There were still the sidelong glances at them though.

As they got closer to the ice cream place, Harry turned his head, his ears picking up a voice shouting something. The shouting got louder and he looked around, finally locating a person standing with a large sign on a stick above their head. They were next to a table and a couple of other people who were handing out fliers to people who hadn't managed to give them a wide berth already.

"Support werewolf reform! Show your love for your fellow wizard! Support werewolf reform! Decent jobs and no more discrimination!"

"Ah, now Harry, let's go see these people over here." Sirius smiled, leading Harry over to the shouting woman and the table.

"Hello there good sir, have a flier about Witches and Wizards for Werewolves, supporting the need for reformation of the laws pertaining to werewolves. They're not beasts, just humans with a…"

"Furry little problem." Sirius provided with a smile, taking the flier.

"Right. That's a good way of putting it." The lady smiled. She reached over to the table and picked up a couple of buttons, handing them to Sirius.

"Here mate." Sirius smiled, placing the button, which read 'Support Werewolf Reform, Help Not Hurt', upon Harry's hat, careful not to stick him with it. He pinned his own to the collar of his jacket and put a few Galleons in the donation tin on the table. He grabbed an extra button and they continued on their way.

"What does Werewolf Reform mean, Paddy?"

"It mean that there are people trying to help other people understand that werewolves should be treated just like everyone else. They want people to be nice to werewolves like Moony instead of being afraid of them."

"Well then I like Werewolf Reform."

"Me too, Prongslet, me too. And so would your mum and your dad. It's all about loving one another as we are, huh?"

"Yeah."

…...

The two men returned back to the house with their packages, quietly retreating to Harry's playroom to do some wrapping. Sirius hid Lexie's ring inside the secret compartment beneath the seat of Harry's pedal train.

Once they'd finished, Sirius helped Harry carry his gifts down stairs to the kitchen where Lexie was working on icing Remus's birthday cake.

"Where's he at anyway?" Sirius asked, giving her a kiss on the cheek and steal a bit of icing from the bowl with his finger. He didn't lick it, but rather, held it down to Harry's height for the little boy to steal.

"Mmmm, chocolate." Harry beamed and then went over to the table to restack the presents so they were arranged on top of one another by size. Then he rearranged them again so they sat along the table against the wall instead of a pile. There, that was even better.

"In his study I think. He went down to the library and checked out some books pertaining to laws about daycare requirements and such I think. He's been in there all morning. Harry, can you get Moony, it's time his party."

"Okay!" Harry jumped down from his chair and raced from the room, bouncing along to the door in the hallway that he knew went to Remus's special room. He pushed it open, knowing that he didn't have to knock. Moony had told him he was always welcome in the room, even if the door was closed. "Moony, it's time to have your birthday party!"

Remus jumped slightly, having been entranced by the book on his desk. He looked up at Harry and smiled, unable to help it. He was such a good little boy. "Is it really? Well then I suppose we had better get to the kitchen." He marked his page and closed the book, following Harry out of the study, through the hallway and living room and into the kitchen.

"Here we are then!" Lexie beamed, setting a place down at the head of the table where Remus usually sat anyway. "Rare steak and potatoes."

"Oh, my favorite." Remus smiled, sitting down as Harry bounced over to sit beside him, quite excited.

"Moony, are you gonna open your presents?"

"Let's have lunch and cake first."

"Okay." Harry nodded and picked up his fork to begin eating the already cut up bits of steak on his plate. They all ate, talking every now and then, laughing about something or other while Harry jabbered about the Quidditch game he and Sirius had listened to while they were wrapping gifts.

Once the cake had been consumed (chocolate upon chocolate with even more chocolate inside, and more chocolate outside), Harry reached his hands out and grabbed up the first present, handing it to Remus without waiting for the plates to be cleared. "I picked them all out." He announced.

"Then I'm sure they're perfect." Remus smiled. He opened them, one by one. "Oh wow, this is wonderful. I love it, thank you!" He beamed as he set each unwrapped gift aside. Harry wriggled in his chair, his eyes shining with absolute glee at making his Moony so very happy. "Harry these are wonderful presents, very useful. Thank you."

Remus smiled, hugging the little boy tightly and pulling him into his lap.

"I have one more." Harry stated proudly, digging into his pocket. He pulled out the last button Sirius had taken from the lady's table in Diagon Alley and held it up to Remus.

Moony took the button, eyes beginning to water and pinned it gently onto his shirt. "Harry, that, is the very best gift of all." And it was. Knowing that, without a doubt, this little boy accepted him as he was for who he was despite his being a werewolf. Even one more person being accepting made all the difference in the world, because it meant a higher possibility of more people coming around to the right way of thinking. "I think this is probably one of the best birthdays I've ever had."

* * *

I felt we were overdue for a little more Remus love. And since this story is calenderally accurate (betcha hadn't noticed that, didja?), why not a birthday chapter for him? Is is March 10th after all! However, the button idea is not of my own. I have that button and I love it greatly. If I could post a link to it, I would, but as I cannot, I will simply refer you all to do a websearch on it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's a little choppy but I still think it came out pretty nicely and we're adding some flow for a couple of more plotlines, yay plotlines! Anyway, let me know what you thought if you'd like, I always truely appreciate all of your feedback.

Later gators, love always,

S.Q.O.


	38. Good Things

His Boy

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Good Things

"You really think I can do this?" Moony asked as he stared at the two story house in front of him. It was close to the center of town and had a large front yard and porch. A fence sat along the edge of the yard, going all the way around the entirety of the property, but more than any of that, the most prominent detail of the house was neither house nor yard, but the big red SOLD sign plastered onto the For Sale sign sticking out of the little bit of grass that was between the road and sidewalk.

"You can do anything." Sirius beamed, Harry attached to his hip. The walk from the car had been icier than expected, not all of it having melted yet this morning, making it easier to just carry the little boy to the house. "It's yours, either way. We'll need to fix up some parts of it of course. Make it match your needs."

Remus walked up the front walk, a mishmash of flat stones set into the ground with a couple inches of grass between each one. He got to the front porch and looked back at Sirius who smiled and followed after him. They went into the house and Remus coughed at the dust, blinking his eyes rapidly. Looking around he could tell right away that this was going to need some work, but with the right spells and a helping wand…

"This is really happening." Remus laughed, walking from the small foyer. He moved forward into the hallway. He looked around the living room with a smile. "If we take out the wall here, we can make this one big room." He pointed to the wall between the living room and den. "And then the kitchen is right across the hall…" He moved back into the hallway, past a set of stairs and into the kitchen. "We can take out the wall between it and the dining room."

Harry slide down from Sirius's hip, looking around anxiously. He frowned, shaking his head. "Moony, you can't live here! I don't live here!"

Sirius chuckled and lifted Harry back up. "No Harry. Moony lives with us but he's going to start watching babies and kids during the day as a job. Like Miss Nancy, only for little kids."

"Ooooh." Harry smiled, glad that Moony wasn't moving out. That would have made him very sad. He liked his Moony a lot and didn't think it would be good if he lived in another house. "But what will I do after school?"

"The school isn't far from here." Remus explained, crouching down to get on Harry's level. "There'll be other grown ups helping watch all of the kids, so one of us will come and pick you and probably some of your friends up. Then Padfoot will get you when he gets off work. Then at six o'clock…"

"You'll come home for dinner?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Harry nodded. He liked the idea of getting to play with some of his friends from school after school as well. That would be something fun to do. He liked playing by himself sometimes, but normally he would much rather have someone else to hang out with. That was why he loved going to school so much, even though he didn't quite like his uniform.

"Come on, let's look around a big more." Sirius suggested, pointing to the stairs. The three men headed up, reaching the second level. There were three bedrooms up here and a second bathroom, the first being off of the den downstairs. "One of these could be an office. And the others could be rooms for napping."

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking too." Remus grinned and pulled a pen from his pocket. He scribbled down something on a clipboard he had brought along. "So we'll need places for sleeping. Cribs or playpens in one room, and floor mats in the other. And then when the older kids come from the school the younger ones who need an afternoon nap won't be disturbed so much by the noise. It'll be quieter up here."

"Excellent deduction, my dear Moony."

"I don't always need naps." Harry stated quite proudly as he peeked into one of the empty bedrooms. It was true that he only napped in the afternoon about three times a week now, usually after lunch for about two hours. Just a nice pick me up if he'd had a more tiring morning or hadn't slept well the night before. His napping days were slowly becoming a thing of the past.

Sirius smiled, remembering how he used to put Harry down from a nap at one in the afternoon every day when he had first started taking care of him full time. He had already grown so much it was astonishing. He was about whole inch taller than he had been and his speech was getting better. He wasn't making his 'th' and 'r' as awkwardly (though cutely) spoken as he used to, something Sirius credited to the school. He could read simple words and sentences. And though he was still quite skinny, he had filled out a bit, looking more like James than he had before, his body getting stronger from running around and eating a good balanced diet. But what Sirius loved the most was seeing his precious boy so much more confident and sure of himself than he had been. Harry would rattle on about anything, whether anyone was listening or not and he would ask as many questions as he could in one day. He still was wary of strange adults, but on a much more reasonable level than he had been. He tended to make sure he was close to either Sirius or Remus or Lexie during initial introductions, but he soon warmed up to them, even if he wasn't quite as chatty.

"No you don't. That's because you're getting to be such a big boy."

"I am very big!" Harry laughed gleefully, raising his arms above his head and standing on his tiptoes just to show how big he could be. Sirius laughed and tickled the boy's sides.

"Yes, you are! But you're not too big for me to do this!" Sirius picked Harry up and tossed him into the air. Harry squealed in delight and… didn't come back down. He continued floating upwards until he reached the ceiling, Sirius hadn't tossed him that high, he'd merely given him a tiny boost so he'd just barely leave his hands and then return to them.

"Look! I'm so high!" Harry laughed as he tapped the ceiling with his fingers before gravity appeared to kick in and he floated downwards quickly, but still not as fast as he would have if he'd really been falling. Sirius caught him, grinning wide from ear to ear. It always delighted him when Harry displayed accidental magic. "Again, Paddy!"

Sirius tossed Harry again, watching him float a bit before he returned to the safety of his arms. They spent the rest of the morning at the house, Sirius and Remus discussing different possibilities for it while occasionally giving Harry a gentle toss in the air. By the time they headed for home, they had a very good idea of what the daycare would look like inside and out and Harry was all smiles.

…...

"Here you are!" Lexie smiled as the men tromped into the house, taking off scarves, shoes, and jackets. It wasn't bitter cold anymore, but rather the chilly in-between space that was the beginnings of spring. Harry still got bundled up, but he no longer needed his red snowsuit, though he still had to wear a hat and mittens and boots with his puffy green jacket. "I was just wondering if you were going to be late. I've made up some tea and cocoa to go with lunch."

"Yummy!" Harry beamed, shooting off towards the kitchen, jacket dangling from one arm and coming loose in the living room where it landed on the floor. He loved Lexie's cocoa. It was extra chocolaty and extra marshmallowy and extra whipped creamy with lots of cinnamon and nutmeg on top. And she always added some extra treacle syrup to his.

"Hello, love." Sirius smiled, giving Lexie a quick kiss as he undid his scarf.

"How did it go?" Lexie asked curiously, reaching to undo the buttons of his coat.

Remus tugged off his shoes, setting them on the mat by the door before hanging up his coat. "It went really well. We've got everything planned out for the house itself and then I've just got to decide a few more things. We should be able to have it finished it a couple of weeks."

"It's going to be an excellent daycare." Sirius grinned, tugging off his jacket and hanging it up as well. "One big playroom, a large kitchen and snack area…"

"The foyer has a large closet that we can take the doors off of to make into cubbies and coat hooks. Three bedrooms, one for an office, and two napping rooms. One for the littler ones and one for the three and ups."

"The downstairs bathroom is pretty big. Can probably take out the tub and put in a changing table and a couple of little training potties." Sirius continued as he took off his shoes and headed into the living room. He waved his wand at Harry's jacket, making it float off to it's place on a short hook on the wall next to the one that held Harry's backpack above the basket of hats and mittens.

"It sounds fantastic." Lexie agreed as they headed to the kitchen. Harry was already at the table, spooning his cocoa into his mouth, having already gotten through all of the sugary toppings. Lexie bent down to kiss the top of his head and he turned to grin up at her, his lips surrounded by cocoa while there were drips of it down the front of his shirt. "Did you have a lovely morning, sweetheart?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded. "Paddy throwed me so high I could touch the roof!"

"Oh my, that is high!" Lexie's eyes widened as she turned to look at Sirius but he quickly rebuffed any worry.

"The ceiling, you mean, Harry. And most of it was accidental magic, I just gave him a boost. He floated down safe every time."

"Oh." Lexie smiled, looking calmer now. "Lily used to do that as well, only I think she would jump from a swing and then float down to land further than she would have normally. At least, if I remember correctly. She said that was one of her first accidental magic experiences. Her mother nearly had a fit."

"My mummy flew too?" Harry asked, looking up from his plate. He had finished his cocoa and was eating away at the celery and cream cheese that sat beside his tuna sandwich. He had yet to try the sandwich though, having never seen one before.

"Oh yes. But only from the swings." Lexie smiled, grabbing up a napkin and wiping the cocoa from his face while he was chewing.

"Otherwise she was dead scared of heights." Sirius laughed, sitting down and picking up his sandwich. "Ooo, tuna and cucumber. That's different."

"Cravings. And it's healthy, so I figured…" Lexie blushed as she took her seat next to Sirius. One long end of the table was pressed against the wall, so it was kept out of the way. Harry always sat at a short end near the kitchen door while Sirius sat next to him. Then Lexie, and then Remus was on the other end.

Harry poked at his sandwich, lifting up a slice of bread to peek underneath it. "It looks funny."

"It's delicious." Sirius assured him, biting into his own sandwich with relish, trying his best to display how good it really was. Tuna wasn't his favorite, but he did like it.

Harry made a face and lifted half his sandwich. He brought it to his mouth and took a bite, feeling the cucumber crunch while the tuna was gooshy. He chewed and swallowed. "It is good!" He devoured the first half of his sandwich and then the second, obviously pretty hungry after such an exciting morning.

"So, anything in particular anyone wants for dinner?" Sirius asked once they were halfway through lunch. "Since we're on the subject of food and it's my night to cook?" He eyed Harry who eyed him back. Sirius waggled his eyebrows. Harry grinned.

"You should go on a date!" Harry stated quickly, his eyes dashing from Sirius to Lexie and back again to see if he'd done well. That eyebrow waggling had been Padfoot's signal, he knew it.

For the past couple of weeks, since Sirius had gotten the ring for Lexie, he and Harry and Remus had been conspiring together while the lady of the house was at work. She'd finished moving in officially last week, all of her things finally being unpacked and Sirius's room getting a slight color make-over to make it less manly and more coupley. On their way home from the future daycare, Harry had been told that today at lunch they were putting their plan into action and then they'd practiced a bit before they'd gotten home.

"A date?" Sirius asked, sounding curious. "I suppose we could all go out for pizza or something instead if you guys want."

"No."

"You don't want to go out?" Sirius pondered, and Harry shook his head.

"Not me. You and Lexie. That's what grown ups do, right?" Harry asked, grinning.

"Harry Potter, turning down pizza. Never thought I'd see the day." Lexie laughed, shaking her head and reaching across the table to ruffle his hair. She looked at Sirius. "It is a nice idea…"

"We haven't been out in a while… Harry, are you sure you don't want to go out for pizza?"

"Yep." Harry nodded and slid from his chair. He grabbed up his cup and plate and carried them over to the sink where he dropped them in, the plastic bouncing slightly. "I'm gonna draw a picture for Hedwig to bring to my Luna-sissy." And then he skipped from the room.

"Well then, I guess that's that." Sirius blinked with a laugh. "Remus, would you mind if we…?"

"Not at all." Remus shook his head. "I'll order in a pizza and you guys go have a good time together. It's been months since you did anything alone."

…...

Later that evening, with Harry and Remus contently partying it up in the playroom with a rowdy game of Go Fish, Sirius and Lexie apparated to London and then strolled along the street. Sirius was happy, and insanely nervous. What if this didn't work? It had to work, right?

"So, why did we have to come all the way to London to go out?" Lexie asked curiously, taking Sirius's hand and leaning against his arm with a small smile.

"More choices. Back home it's either pizza or the diner."

"I like the diner."

"Me too, but I figured something different would be nice, since we've got the chance."

"It was insanely adorable, wasn't it? When Harry suggested we go on a date?"

"Yeah, he's such a good kid." Sirius chuckled and pointed to a restaurant that was all lit up. "Here, this looks good."

"Alright." Lexie nodded, just ready to eat by this point. She was always hungry lately, thanks to this kid in her stomach.

They entered the restaurant and made their way over to the podium. Sirius grinned, peeking over the podium. "I have a reservation under Black."

"Mister Black, good to see you. Right this way,." Harry stated with a cheeky grin, stepping out from behind the podium wearing his little suit with the Snitch bow tie and a napkin draped over one arm. He held a couple of menus half a big as him under his other arm. He giggled excitedly and then started for the dining room.

"What?" Lexie looked confused, rubbing at her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, Harry was gone and a man was in his place, showing them through the busy dining room.

"Something wrong love?" Sirius asked, looking concerned.

"Nothing I just… nothing."

The man led them out of the dining room and up some stairs by the bathrooms. The stairs wound upwards until they reached the second floor and then out onto a balcony where a single table was set up, neither of them seeming to notice the little boy and grown man trailing after them quietly.

"Here you are." The maitre de stated with a soft smile. Sirius pulled out Lexie's chair and she sat down, looking around at the beautiful balcony in awe. There were fairy lights all around, on the bushes and building itself, sparkling in the chill night air.

"Wow, this is… excellent." Lexie looked around curiously, not really sure as to why they were on the balcony or how Sirius had even had a reservation on such short notice. She raised her eyebrows at him but he just shrugged.

"A bottle of your finest non-alcoholic sparking cider please." Sirius smiled.

"Very well then, sir." The man bowed slightly and then left. Sirius and Lexie took to looking at their menus.

"I think maybe I'll get a steak…" Sirius pondered out loud, the dog in him agreeing wholeheartedly to this idea. Shortly after a waiter appeared, a very tiny waiter in a Snitch bowtie.

"Good evening sir and miss, I will be your waiter this evening."

Once again, Lexie stared at Harry in shock, not really sure if she was seeing him now or if her brain was playing tricks on her. She looked at Sirius and then back at the waiter. Harry was gone once again, replaced by a forty-something man with a mustache.

"Are you ready to order or would you like some more time?"

"I'm ready." Lexie nodded, looking at Sirius to be sure he was as well. Perhaps it was her empty stomach making her see all these images of Harry. Or maybe she just missed him.

They ordered their food and the waiter left with a slight bow, leaving them balcony with the menus and his notepad.

"Sirius, have you been seeing anything funny tonight?"

"What do you mean by funny?"

"Just… I think I keep seeing Harry but whenever I look back to make sure, he's not there."

"I think you're just hungry, love." Sirius stated gently, reaching out a hand to pat her own. "Harry's at home safe with Remus. They're probably gorging themselves on peanut butter and jelly by now. I see him too sometimes, when I'm at work. I'm just so used to having him around that…"

"It's difficult to not think he's here." Lexie nodded in understanding. Well, that solved that then. If Sirius saw him as well sometimes, there was no way she was going crazy. It was just a side affect of having been around the little boy on a near constant basis when she wasn't at work.

Their food came a little bit later and they ate, Sirius sneaking food beneath the table when Lexie wasn't looking. Harry munched in silence, nestled up against his godfather's legs, under the tablecloth. He knew it was important to be quiet, though it was very difficult to keep from giggling now and then. Whenever he had to he pressed his face hard against Sirius's calf and muffled the sound. Sirius was happy he was doing so well with their plan. It was funny, how a four year old could be so sneaky when he knew it was very important. That, and he'd been drilled on the plan for over a week. He knew what he was supposed to do.

"This is so nice, Sirius." Lexie smiled, feeling better now that she had eaten. It was quite lovely out on the balcony, even if it was a bit chilly. And so pretty as well… "How did you ever do all of this on such short notice?"

"I called as soon as I found out we'd be eating out. I used to work here during the summers when I was living with the Potters because I felt it'd be unfair for them to have to take total care of me and I needed to buy my schoolbooks. I'm still friends with the owner and he pulled a few strings."

'Oh wow, that's right. I remember you mentioning something about working in a Muggle place over the summer. I always thought it was some sort of diner or something though, not fancy like this."

"It was the first place that needed a dishwasher." Sirius laughed and dropped the last of his steak, seemingly, onto the floor by accident. Instead it landed on Harry's outstretched hand and he gobbled it up, really liking it.

Sirius bent down, pretending to be picking up the piece of steak. Instead, he kissed Harry on top of his head and snatched up a small piece of steak he had dropped on purpose earlier. He set it on his plate and smiled at Lexie, watching as she straightened out her napkin and cutlery, not liking to make it difficult to clean up.

"Would you care for dessert?" The waiter was back, only this time he had decidedly brown hair and no mustache. He was pushing a cart holding different delicious desserts and Lexie stared at him, wide eyed.

"Remus?"

"Pardon?" The waiter looked confused, straightening his hat.

"I would like the chocolate cake." Sirius smiled. "You want any, dear?"

"I… I'll have some of that pie." Lexie blinked, so confused now as to what was going on. The waiter resembled Remus so greatly, but that was impossible. Remus was home, watching Harry.

"Ah, a wonderful choice miss." The waiter smiled and served both cake and pie. As Lexie ate, the dessert cart disappeared and Harry slipped out from under the table after a nudge from Sirius. He strode over to Lexie and tugged at the edge of her dress.

Lexie looked down at Harry, stunned into silence, fork slightly lifted to her mouth. Sirius rose from his seat and moved to lift Harry, shifting down onto one knee, setting Harry to sit down on the one that was still upwards. Harry dug into his pocket, pulling out the little box. He looked up at Sirius who nodded and Harry, grinning, opened the box, holding it up to Lexie.

"Lexie, will you do us… uh.. Do us…"

"The honor." Sirius provided and Harry grinned.

"Do us the honor of spending…" Harry paused again, his line lost as he stared at Lexie, suddenly worried as to what she would say. He rerouted though, as he'd been told to do if he forgot the longer statement and went with the very simple and straight forward instead. "Will you marry us?"

Lexie's fork fell to the stones of the balcony floor and her hands shot to cover her mouth. Harry's green eyes and Sirius's grey shone, both staring at her expectantly, waiting for her answer. She looked at the tiny ring in the box, silver leaves twining around in a circle, three stones set together.

Harry started to get even more worried as she faltered, not answering as silent tears began to well in her eyes and fall down her cheeks. He bit his lip and it quivered slightly, scared of the tears. Tears meant unhappiness, fear… they meant sadness.

"Oh no, Harry don't cry!" Lexie suddenly came out of her shocked stupor and swooped Harry up from Sirius's knee, hugging him tightly.

Harry burst into tears. "You're crying!"

"I'm crying because I'm so happy! These are happy tears!" Lexie reassured him, wiping at his face with the front of her pretty black dress, not caring if she got tears and snot on it. "Of course I'll marry you, of course I will! Oh my goodness… Sirius!"

Sirius burst out laughing, hugging them both tightly, his own eyes filling with happy tears as well. The waiter let out a cry and shot forward from the doorway, moving to hug them as well.

"I told you it would work, Padfoot! I told you she'd say yes!"

"Remus! You were in on this too?"

"Who d'you think helped train Harry?"

"Did I do good?" Harry asked as they all calmed down and the hugging ended. He still clung his little arms around Lexie's neck, glad they hadn't been sad tears.

"Oh Harry, you did perfect." Sirius laughed, ruffling his hair. Harry beamed.

* * *

Wooo, finally finished this one. It was a bit tricky but I think it came out alright. Also, last weekend I got a little crazy and decided to draw instead of write. So I drew pictures for the first six chapters of this, and they suck. AND NOW, it's contest time.

_Follow the link in my profile to the pictures I drew. Find the hidden name of a future character. The first person to send me a message (not a review or comment, a message, either here or there) containing the hidden name wins. I will write the winner a one shot Harry Potter story of any plot, rating, and characters they wish. ANYTHING.** Won by Dracarot!**! _

As always, I appreciate every single review you guys take the time to give, even if I don't have the chance to respond to every single one. I also appreciate the time it probably has taken to read this far, even though we're not anywhere close to the end yet.

Love always, later alligators,

S.Q.O.

My cat's contribution, although she wanted it right in the middle of the chapter: oi9lo


	39. Creations

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Thirty-Nine: Creating_**

With the first of April, spring swept in almost all at once. The past week had been nothing but rain, making one little boy very grumpy at being stuck inside all the time. And even when the rain let up enough for Harry to go out, it was usually only for a little while before it started pouring again. When Harry awoke, it was to the sun shining brightly in through his window. He let out a happy giggle as he pulled back the curtains, looking down at the grass that was brownish yesterday and was now a fair shade of green. This made him so happy he was unable to contain his joy. He let out a whooping holler and bounding from his bedroom and down the stairs to where he found Sirius in the kitchen, humming a happy tune as he fried up some eggs.

"Paddy! Paddy! There's no more rain!"

"You're right, Prongslet. No rain, no clouds, just good old blue skies and bright sunshine." Sirius laughed and scooped Harry up to give him a proper good morning. He hugged him tightly and held him on one hip as he flipped the eggs onto a plate. "No school either."

"Huh?" Harry blinked in confusion. "But Paddy, it's Monday."

"I know, but all of that rain we had flooded up the river and made the road disappear beneath it. It's not safe for anyone to go through right now. Miss Nancy called and said the school is closed."

"Can't you make the water go down with magic?" Harry frowned, not liking that the road was under water. He had really wanted to go to school today. They were suppose to be starting growing their own flowers in pots today.

"I would, but it's right near the start of town, sort of towards the library, so if I did that all of the Muggles who live around there would see and then I'd be in trouble with the Ministry. Besides, even if I did, there wouldn't be anyone at school when we got there."

"Oh." Harry sighed and slid down from Sirius's hip. He had really been looking forward to making a flower grow today.

"What's the matter, sweetie?" Lexie asked as she came into the room. She lifted Harry up and spun him around before setting him down in his usual kitchen chair. Harry heaved a sigh.

"School is closed cause there's water on the road. I do not like it. We was gonna grow flowers today."

"Well, tell you what, Harry. I want to start a garden over on the side of the house this spring, and today is a good a day as any. The ground should be soft enough. Would you like to help me?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, eyes brightening as Sirius set his plate down in front of him. "Paddy, me'n'Lexie are gonna make a garden!"

"So I heard. That'll be lots of fun. What are you going to plant?"

"I think we'll start with some vegetables. Beans, carrots, beets, corn, cabbage. Oh and definitely some zucchini and cucumbers."

"And flowers?" Harry asked hopefully.

"And flowers. Lots and lots of beautiful flowers for Harry to help make grow." Lexie nodded, tickling his tummy. Harry laughed, sputtering his eggs slightly.

"Morning." Remus yawned, entering the kitchen and grabbing of a slice of toast. He bit into it and chewed, still buttoning his shirt. "M'going to go…" He swallowed. "To the daycare today and work on it a bit."

"You'll have to Apparate there. The road's flooded. No school." Sirius explaining, pointing to the little boy still in his pajamas even though it was already bordering on eight o'clock.

"I can wait on it then. I wouldn't want Harry to get hurt with everything flying about." Remus sat down.

"Well I'm off work today, so you go and I'll look after Harry. We're going to plant a garden, right Harry?" Lexie smiled and Harry nodded. Remus smiled.

"Alright then, thanks." Remus smiled and finished his toast. Sirius left the room to tug on his shoes and jacket before turning.

"I'll see you lot later." He smiled and gave Harry and good hug and kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, Paddy." Harry smiled up at him and Sirius ruffled his hair before giving Lexie a kiss on the cheek and then turning to leave.

"Hey!"

"Yes Harry?"

"You forgot Moony!" Harry stated quite crossly, shaking a finger at Sirius. Sirius laughed and moved to give Remus a hug. He spun him around and Remus chuckled as he was dipped, Sirius holding onto him.

"My dear sweet love, parting is so sorrowful!" Sirius chided mournfully, one hand over his heart, the other supporting Remus.

"And yet, we shall meet again someday my darling." Remus ran the hand that wasn't holding onto Sirius across his forehead as though swooning. Lexie snorted and Harry looked on with a slightly confused expression, having never seen his Padfoot and Moony behave so.

"They're just being silly, Harry." Lexie explained with a laugh.

"My dear sweet beautiful Moony, how shall I ever leave you!?"

"I do not know, for I cannot bear the thought of it!"

"I will return for you, my love, tonight!"

"Oh so long a wait it shall be! Oh Sirius!"

"Oh Remus!" Sirius swept Remus upwards and laughing, planted a brotherly kiss on his forehead before clapping him on his back. He looked at Harry who grinned. "Better?"

"Better." Harry laughed and Sirius gave him kisses on both his cheeks. "Be a good boy for Lexie, Prongslet."

"I will." Harry nodded and Sirius disapparated off to work.

"Well, I best be off as well." Remus smiled and gave Harry good kisses and bestowed one upon the top of Lexie's head as he didn't want to get scolded as well. "Love you, see you later!"

"Love you Moony!" Harry laughed as Remus, too, disapparated and it was just him and Lexie left at the table. They finished eating breakfast and then got dressed, Lexie helping Harry make a good choice of shirt. He wanted to wear one of his short sleeved shirts, but since it was still a bit chilly outside, he was better off wearing one of his long sleeved flannel ones over it. The it was into his jacket and boots, hat, and mittens.

"Alright, let's go get this garden made up!" Lexie beamed and they went out the front door, heading around to the left side (if you were looking it straight on) of the house. Harry watched excitedly as Lexie used her wand to rid the ground of grass here, pulling it up so that they had a three feet of dirt on either side of them, a stretch of grass in the center big enough for two people to walk down without any trouble. "This is going to be the vegetable garden because there's a lot of space here for things to grow. We'll put the corn and beans and tomatoes on this side, by the fence, so that we can use it to help support them when they grow really tall. And herbs and some plants that we can use in potions too. Lots and lots and lots of plants. And then we'll plant some flowers down by the front gate and along the rest of the fence as well."

"Yay!" Harry beamed, excited about this, but not really sure how things were planted. He knew about seeds of course, but that was the gist of it. He always liked when the yard was covered in pretty colored flowers.

"Here Harry, watch. We make holes in the ground, like this." Lexie dug her hand straight into the ground, scooping up a whole handful of dirt. "It has to be deep enough to cover the seeds but shallow enough not to bury them too far under where the sun won't warm up the ground. That's what my mum always said anyway, and she always grew nice plants, with a little bit of help of course. Here, let's make a whole row of holes and then put seeds in."

"Okay." Harry beamed, digging the little trowel she handed him into the dirt and trying to make a hole like hers. It took a little practice to get it right, but he managed it and soon they had a whole row of holes.

"Alright, hold out you hand there, love."

Harry did as he was told and Lexie removed his mittens before pouring some seeds into one of his hands. Harry looked down at the tiny bits of life-force and smiled. "Food comes from these?"

"Yep. One whole big plant from one of them. But we'll put a few in each hole in case one of them doesn't grow."

"Okay!" Harry beamed and he helped Lexie put seeds into the holes, not knowing which plant was which. He put them in the holes Lexie told him to though, and a lot of the seeds looked different depending on the hole they were going in. He liked seeing all of the different shapes, but didn't bother asking which was which.

When they had finished putting seeds in holes, Lexie pulled Harry's mittens back out of her pocket and handed them to him. He put them on, his hands a little chilly but not too bad in the April sun. Once they had finished making, planting, and watering the vegetable garden they spent the rest of the morning planting in the flower beds and along the fence. Lexie smiled watching Harry enjoy himself over something so simple that seemed like absolute magic to a four year old.

"Come on sweetheart, I think that's probably good." Lexie laughed as Harry danced around with watering can, spraying his way down the rows of seeds along the fence. Harry grinned up at her brightly and set the watering can down and reached for her hand. She took it and they went into the warmth of the house. "How about some grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch?"

"Yeah, sounds good and warm." Harry nodded in agreement, taking off his outdoor clothes and putting them where they went before trailing after Lexie into the kitchen. He helped her put cheese on bread and pour the tomato soup out of a jar into a pot to heat up.

When lunch was ready, they sat at the table, eating mostly in silence as Harry relished the warmth of his food, dipping the grilled cheese into his soup the way Sirius had shown him to do ages ago. Finally, when he was halfway through with it he looked up at Lexie again.

"Lexie, am I gonna have a brother or a sister?"

"Well, I went to the baby Healer the other day and I can tell you, but, you'd have to keep it a big big secret. Because Padfoot doesn't want to know, so we can't tell him." Lexie smiled, ruffling his hair. Harry smiled, glad it wouldn't be too long before he knew.

"Why?"

"He wants to be surprised." Lexie laughed. "So if I tell you, you have to keep it a very secret secret from Padfoot so he doesn't know. Could you do that?"

"I can!" Harry nodded, eyes full of pure excitement, wriggling in his chair now. He wanted to know so badly, hoping he'd get a brother like Ronnie had all of those brothers. Oh wouldn't it be wonderful to have a brother!

"Alright, if you think you can keep the secret, then I'll tell you after lunch." Lexie nodded in agreement. Harry wolfed down the rest of his lunch quickly, not wanting to have to wait too long. When he finished, he even brought his dishes over to the sink and dropped them in and then raced back over to Lexie and stared up at her expectantly.

"Lunch is over."

"So it is. C'mon then." Lexie nodded and took Harry's hand, leading him out of the kitchen and upstairs to the second floor. She headed over to a door here that Harry knew was a closet. At least… it had been a closet last time he'd looked in it.

Lexie opened the door and Harry gasped. The closet was gone and in it's place was a baby's room. Harry knew instantly whether he was getting a brother or sister.

The room was painted a pale pink with a border of dancing Golden Snitches along the top. A while crib sat against the corner across from the door next to the half hexagon window that had a rocking chair in it. A little dresser with pink flowers on the drawers and a soft looking mat on top with a mirror over it was in the corner diagonal from the crib which had a mobile of Quidditch balls and brooms floating above it. A series of shelves sat next to the door, covered in plushies and baskets of toys, cloth diapers, pacifiers, and bottles. There were a couple of other shelves in the room, but those had books and blocks on them. The floor was wooden with a giant snitch rug in the middle, taking up most of the floor.

Harry stared, his eyes wide as he walked into the room and looked around. He liked the looks of some of those plushies and toys, but most of them were pinkish or babyish. When he was finished looking he turned around to look at Lexie, slightly disappointed. "I wanted a brother."

Lexie sighed, kneeling down and taking his little face in her hands. "I know you did, love. But you know, sisters are nice too. And there's something very special about little sisters."

"What's that?"

"Little sisters can play just as well as little brothers, but because you're her big brother, it'll be part of your responsibility to always protect her. You can teach her all sorts of lovely games when she's old enough and look out for her and make sure she's not getting hurt or in trouble. Do you think you can manage that? It's a very important job."

"I can do that! I'll be a good big brother." Harry nodded proudly, his little chest puffing out. He was sure he could look after a little sister just as well as he could a little brother. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, after all, Ronnie had a little sister too. And he had a pretty good time with Ginny too, just not as much as he did with Ronnie.

"I'm so glad!" Lexie hugged him tightly and Harry smiled, glad he had made her happy. "But remember, no telling anyone else. This is a secret secret for you and me. A very very special super top secret secret."

"Right! I promise." Harry nodded, knowing he could keep hushed if he tried his very hardest and no one asked him about it.

"That's a good boy. Now then, what say you we go and set a trap for the guys?"

"A trap?"

"Oh Harry, I have yet to explain the beauty of April Fools Day to you." Lexie grinned brightly and they headed downstairs, making sure to close the door to the nursery tightly.

"See Harry, today is the first day of April." Lexie explained a little bit later as she levitated a bucket of water on top of the slightly ajar kitchen door. "We call it April Fools Day and we play jokes on each other. It's a lot of fun. We'll have to be careful to walk in here through the dining room for the rest of the day so it doesn't get us and when someone walks under it, we'll throw flour on them."

"Oooh!" Harry grinned brightly, excited about this. "Can I make jokes too?"

"Sure you can. What would you like to do?"

"I wanna get Paddy and Moony good."

"Okay, let's think of a joke that we could get them with." Lexie smiled, trying to think of something simple. "Aha! Let's go up to Padfoot's room. We'll find some stuff there, I'm sure."

They wandered upstairs and into Sirius's room where they dug through his things until they found several whoopee cushions. These they placed under the cushions on the kitchen chairs that Sirius and Remus always sat on. In the living room, with help from Lexie's wand, they turned all of Harry's drawings upside-down, which Harry thought was an excellent kind of joke. They did the same with all of the photos in the house and put gooey Vaseline on the door knobs and plastic wrap over all of the toilets except for Harry's.

When Sirius apparated into the living room around six, Harry was all giggles with Lexie in the kitchen. They were cooking a dinner of meat and potatoes.

"I hear my little boy." Sirius grinned, pushing in through the kitchen door and the bucket of water landed all over him, covered him from head to toe in wet while the bucket clanged on the floor. Harry burst out laughing and raced to the table where the flour was sitting. He grabbed up two handfuls and threw it at Padfoot while Lexie grabbed up the whole bag and dumped it over Sirius's head.

Sirius coughed and then burst out laughing, wiping the flour off of his face and grinning. He swooped in to pick up Harry, spinning him around and getting him all floury as well before purposely shaking his flour covered hair in Lexie's direction.

"Paddy, I know the super duper secret secret." Harry grinned up at Sirius, his smile wide with glee. Sirius smiled back at him and smudged his cheek with flour.

"Oh yeah? Well you'd best not tell me or I'll be sad that I don't get to be surprised!" Sirius tickled at his tummy and Harry giggled, unable to help it. He was so excited about knowing something his Padfoot didn't that he was having trouble holding it in but he knew he had to. He didn't want to make Padfoot sad by telling him.

"I won't, won't, won't!" Harry nodded seriously. "I can't tell the secret cause I promised Lexie I wouldn't and she would be sad if I told and you would be sad if I told and then I would be sad too."

"That's a good idea, Harry. Thank you for not telling me and keeping it a secret." Sirius beamed, kissing Harry's little cheeks and setting him down on the floor. "So, what's for dinner my loves?"

...

"Hey Hermione, guess what!" Harry exclaimed excitedly the next Thursday as he spoke to his friend on the telephone. He hadn't talked to Hermione in a couple of weeks now and it had made him kind of sad. He liked talking to her even though he didn't get to see her very much any more because he usually had school and on weekends she had piano lessons now. "I know what my baby is gonna be but I can't tell cause that would make Lexie and Paddy sad. But I can tell you, just not Paddy cause he wants to wait til she come and be surprised."

"Oooooh! Are you getting a brother or a sister?"

"A sister!" Harry chimed brightly and Hermione squealed on the other line.

"A sister! I'd like a sister, you're so lucky! Mummy! Mummy! Harry's getting a sister! But we can't tell Mister Black because he's waiting til she's born... Oh.. Okay mummy. Harry, my mummy says I have to go to my ballet class now." Hermione sighed sadly. "I don't like ballet class much, but mummy says I need to at least try it for this spring so I can be what she calls well rounded."

"Okay." Harry pouted, not wanting to have to say goodbye yet. They'd only been on the phone for a few minutes which wasn't very long at all when you were four and had a lot to talk about. "Bye Hermione."

"Bye Harry." Harry heard the click of the phone being hung up and he put his back down on the receiver as well. Remus eyed him curiously from where he was just finishing fixing Harry's afternoon snack.

"Done so soon? He asked, having noted that the phone calls between Harry and Hermione seemed to have been getting shorter and less frequent.

"'mione hassa go to ballet." Harry pouted up at Remus, not pleased with this at all. He wanted to talk to Hermione more but she was always busy lately.

"Well, that's alright, Harry. Hermione just has a lot of after school activities she's doing. Tell you what. How about after your homework is finished you and I can head over to the day care and you can help me finish making a sign for outside?"

"Okay!" Harry brightened up. He loved helping Moony work on the day care. He had been a big help when it came to picking out colors and toys and ideas for snacks. "How much longer til it's done and we can play there?"

"Well, we should be completely finished by this weekend and there's already a five kids signed up to come, so on Monday it'll be open."

"Oh wow! Monday!" Harry bounced from his chair and then shot off to grab his backpack and get going on his homework.

Once Harry's homework had been finished, he and Remus Flooed their way over to the day care center which had undergone quite the transformation inside and out. They landed in Remus's office which was on the second floor across from the two large bedrooms that would serve their purpose during children's naptime. One room had several cribs against the walls and a couple of rocking chairs for the babies. The next room had a puzzle piece foam floor, much like Harry's playroom, and there was a bookshelf full of nap mats and another full of pillows and soft animals. A radio sat atop one of the bookshelves, ready to play restful music for those who were having trouble settling down. The bathroom on the second floor contained an adult sized toilet, a child's training potty, a sink, and a tub.

The stairs led down to the hallway where the wall between it and the foyer had been taken out. Two closets sat across from one another, no long closets but rather, cubbies set into the wall. Each one had a square on the bottom for boots, a longer rectangle above that with a hook for a coat, and then another square above that with a colorful cloth bin set into it to hold the child's things, whether it be diapers, toys, or extra clothes. Ten short cubbies in one closet, five in the next, and then five other cubbies, these ones taller and meant for the adults who would be working in the daycare. Where the top of the short cubbies ended, shelving began. Shelves full of paper, extra diapers, and art supplies.

A door sat next to the stairs, leading to a bathroom with small toilets and short sinks as well as a changing table. At the foot of the stairs was the doorway leading into the playroom, a brightly lit room with yet more foam puzzle pieces for flooring. Here were short shelves full of toys and a corner entirely dedicated to books covered in pillows. Another corner offered a play kitchen and small table along with a bursting chest full of dress up clothes. A large play mat with roads sat near the toy cars. A table near to the puzzles. A rocking chair and two baby swings close to the book area. And there was plenty of room to move. Further into the room and around the corner you'd find yourself in what used to be the dining room. The floor had been covered in tile making this the perfect area for eating and art projects. The wall between here and the kitchen had been taken out, though a wooden gate had been placed between the wall and counter to keep little ones out of trouble (another gate sat in the doorway between the kitchen and hallway). There were two short tables in the eating/art area as well as three high chairs for younger children and a bookshelf against the back of the kitchen counter full of craft supplies.

Harry liked the main play area the best as it contained so many toys and he could play with any thing he wanted to here. But he and Remus went right past it and into the tiled area to sit at one of the little tables.

"Alright Harry. You and I are going to come up with a good sign to hang out in front of the house so that people will know what this place is when they go by it. It has to be something that matches the name though."

"What's the name?" Harry asked curiously, reaching for the crayon bucket Remus had placed on the table along with some paper.

""Sprouting Saplings Daycare." Remus smiled. "So we need to draw something that has to do with kids and trees."

"Oh I'm good at trees!" Harry beamed brightly and grabbed up a green crayon and began making a cloud shape on the paper. Remus watched as he drew his tree, coloring in the green part and then adding a brown trunk.

"That looks great Harry! Here, let me add something." Remus smiled and Harry handed over the paper, watching as Remus began drawing little stick figures standing in front of the tree holding hands, each figure getting smaller than the last until he had a baby at the end sitting on the ground with a pacifier in it's mouth. Harry laughed, liking that. Remus let him color in the dresses and add a sun to the corner. Lastly, Remus drew the daycare name in curving letters around the top and bottom of the picture so that it read Sprouting and then Saplings. "What d'you think?"

"I like it!" Harry beamed brightly and Remus smiled, glad. He cut the picture out in a circle and then added two holes on either side of the top of it before pulling out his wand. He tapped it and it began to transform, growing and hardening until it was no longer just a piece of paper, but a wooden sign with his and Harry's drawing carved and colored onto it on either side.

"Wow!" Harry laughed, touching the sign with bright eyes. He'd never had one of his drawings made into wood before!

"There, it's perfect. Now, let's go hang it up outside and head on home to make dinner, shall we?"

"Yes!" Harry nodded excitedly and they wandered out to the front of the daycare where flowers had been planted and a whole play ground area had been constructed.

It had been difficult making the playground as they'd had to do it at night, but Remus and Sirius had built a swing set, a couple of bouncy ducks, a small see-saw, a slide, a sandbox, and a merry-go-round on one half of the front yard. The other half had a picnic table on it for during the warmer months.

A sign posts with chains already dangling from it sat in the grass between the road and sidewalk. Harry helped hold the sign while Remus brought the chains through the holes in it and attached them. Then they let go and let it fall, hanging cheerfully.

"Well, that's the last finishing touch that needed to be done. Thanks for helping, Harry."

Harry's chest puffed out proudly. Everyone was going to see the sign he had helped make.

* * *

Whew, sorry it's been a while again guys! There just hasn't been the time to write as much as I would like to lately, but it should be easier now! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though it's pretty much crap. Sorry bout that. Please let me know what you thought if you'd like to, I always love hearing from you. Thanks bunches!

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	40. Daycare

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Forty: Daycare_**

Harry peeked excitedly out of the preschool classroom window near the reading corner. It was nearly eleven-thirty, time for pick up, and he was anticipating the awesomeness that was about to come.

It was Monday, the first day that Remus's daycare would be open and Harry was going to get to spend the entire afternoon there. He had been talking to Marny that morning, as per usual as she was his best friend at school, and she had told him she was going to be going to the day care as well since her mummy was working there now. Remus had offered Diane a job where she would be able to know her younger children were safe and still be home at night. And it would take a lot of stress off of Natalie so she could be a regular kid instead of always having to spend the nights looking after her two younger siblings. Sirius would be helping out on Mondays and Wednesdays every other week as well.

"Here they come!" Harry bounced up and down excitedly, calling to Marny who was playing nearby. She looked up from the doll she was rocking and stood up. The doll fell to the floor and she raced to peer out the window as well.

Sure enough, Remus was strolling down the walk holding the hand of a little girl from the kindergarten afternoon class. She was all smiles, jabbering on and on about things while bouncing from one foot to the other. She opened the preschool door and they entered. Harry and Marny dashed over from the window.

"Moony! Moony!" Harry hugged him round the leg, bouncing excitedly.

"Hey guys, let's get your stuff." Remus laughed, letting go of the kindergarten girl who looked at Harry and Marny proudly.

"I'm Jessie. I'm helping get you cause I dun have school til this afternoon."

"Right, no school for Jessie for another hour and it only takes five minutes to get here, so we have plenty of time to go back and play some more." Remus explained, helping Marny with the buttons on her jacket while Harry zipped his up and pulled on his backpack.

"Cool!" Harry smiled, glad he would have a chance to play with Jessie as well as Marny. It was always fun to make new friends, he thought.

Jessie beamed with pride as she helped by carrying Marny's bag for her, liking that she was a big girl compared to the two pre-schoolers. "We can play lots and you can be my little sister."

"Okay." Marny smiled, glad that Jessie was nice.

"Alright, that's you two sorted, now where's Sebastian?" Remus asked, rising and looking around the room for the little brown haired boy who was supposed to be joining them. There was a flash of green behind Miss Nancy's skirt as she came over, holding a small hand. She pulled Sebastian out from behind her.

"Here he is, Remus. He's a little nervous about daycare."

"It's okay, Sebastian!" Harry reached out a comforting hand, taking Sebastian's. He didn't know Sebastian very well as they weren't at the same work table, but he did know he liked green and cars. "We're gonna have fun. My Moony is really nice."

Sebastian sniffled and let go of Miss Nancy's hand, clinging onto Harry's. He rubbed at his nose with the sleeve of his jacket, looking like he felt a tiny bit better now that he knew there would be familiar faces at daycare. Harry smiled at him encouragingly and Marny came to hold his other hand.

"It's okay, Sebastian. My mommy will be there too. She's really nice. And my baby brudder, Nathan, too. He's okay." Marny smiled and Sebastian returned a small smile as well.

"Got your bag, Sebastian? Alright then, well, let's head out." Remus smiled kindly and they headed out into the parking lot. "Jessie and Marny, I want you on one side holding hands. Harry and Sebastian on the other side." The children did as they were told and Remus took their hands, toting along two children on each side, keeping them with him and safe as they walked down the sidewalk.

The day care was only one block away from the school, making it good for pick-ups and drop-offs as well as being close to the various shops in town should they run out of anything. Not that they would with the ability to just duplicate anything, but still, it was handy to have.

It was nice to stroll through town with the crisp blue sky overhead full of sunshine, the signs of new growth all around them. The air was warm and smelt quite nice, like freshly overturned earth from the gardens of people who had been starting them. Harry started skipping, unable to contain his joy at being going to the daycare on such a beautiful day. Sebastian laughed and started skipping as well. This led to the girls skipping, and finally, Remus laughed and joined them, unable to help it. There was so much joy here, in this simple walk down the sidewalk with four children who had not a single care in the world. This was the way the world should always be.

When they arrived at the daycare, lunch was already made up, Sirius and Diane sitting at the large picnic table with little Nathan working on feeding himself little bits of cereal.

"Paddy!" Harry laughed, letting go of Sebastian and Remus's hands and running straight for him. Sirius beamed, tugging him up onto his lap and hugging him.

"Hey mate. Did you have fun at school?"

"Yep! And look, Sebastian came with us too!"

"I see that. How are you doing, Sebastian? Do you like peanut butter and jelly?"

"Yes." Sebastian smiled shyly, still a bit nervous about daycare but looking more and more like he was feeling better about it despite his anxiety. He climbed up onto one of the picnic table benches as Harry slid off of Sirius's lap to sit beside him. "And pickles."

"Well it's good that we're having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pickles for lunch today then." Diane smiled as she hugged Marny and Marny kissed Nathan on the head. She and Jessie climbed onto the benched by their plates and all of the kids dug in, hungry after their nice little walk from school.

Once lunch was finished they headed inside. The kids took off their shoes and coats and put them in the cubbies marked with their names. Sirius and Remus set up the three pre-schoolers at one of the tables in the art area to do their homework while Jessie helped Diane wash Nathan's face clean and get him settled down upstairs for his afternoon nap.

"We can do our homework together every day now." Harry announced happily to Marny and Sebastian, holding a red crayon over the picture of the letter T dancing with a turtle that had a lowercase t on it's shell.

"Yeah!" Marny agreed excitedly, scribbling her turtle a nice bright yellow even though most turtles were not yellow. Sebastian picked a nice green for his turtle, liking it best out of all the colors anyway and started coloring away at his page happily. It didn't take very long to have all of their pages done and back in their individual homework folders.

"How about we go play outside now, since it's such a nice day?" Sirius suggested brightly and the children cheered, running for the door. Shoes were put back on, jackets were zipped and buttoned up and then all of the children raced out to the playground area, Jessie taking the lead for the merry-go-round.

"Who wants to spin!?" She shouted, climbing on and sitting down to grab hold of the bars. Harry joined her, sitting down on the other side of the merry-go-round while Marny and Sebastian decided they would rather play on the see-saw. Sirius grabbed hold of the merry-go-round bar and began to push it, running around it quickly to get it moving fast enough to thrill the two kids, but not so fast that it scared them or made them want to throw up.

Harry cheered, laughing as the world spun around him brilliantly. Colors zoomed by, a mesh of new green, brown, and the sweet lilac of the house trimmed with white. He could see Marny's blue coat and Sebastian's green one getting down off of the see saw and running for the swings where Moony began to push them, one with each arm.

Outdoor playtime soon ended when the clock struck twenty past noon and Jessie had to be taken to kindergarten. Diane offered to do it and off they went, strolling down the sidewalk, little girl with a backpack on.

Harry roared, looming over Marny and Sebastian with a stuffed dinosaur. He held it high. "Rawr! Rawr! I'm gonna eat you! Rawr!" The other two pretended to be scared, half laughing, half screaming as they ran away from Harry and the dinosaur. They raced around the play area, chasing one another until it was about one o'clock and Remus came to calm them down.

"Alright guys, we need to quiet down because it's quiet time. That means we're going to go upstairs and I want you all to lay down and have a nice rest while I read to you."

"But Moony I dun need a nap!" Harry shook his head. He liked books, but he didn't like having to lay down when he wasn't sleepy!

"That's alright, Harry. You don't have to sleep, but you do have to come lay down and listen to the story because it's quiet time." Remus explained, ushering them towards the stairs. Harry pouted, crossing his arms as he followed Marny to the stairs. He wasn't the least bit sleepy!

They went up to the older nap room and got mats and pillows from the shelves, laying them out in a row on the floor before flopping down on them. Remus covered them each with a blanket and sat down in a rocking chair that was in the room with a book. He began to read, his voice filling the little ones' minds with images of pirates and treasure. Soon though, all three children had their heads resting peacefully down on the pillows, their eyes closed. Nothing but Remus's voice and the images of the story flitting through their minds as they were lulled into a peaceful resting bliss of half asleep limbo. Once the story was finished, Remus rose from the chair and turned on the small tape player on top of one of the book shelves. Soothing music filled the room, simple classical lullabies without words.

Harry awoke two hours later around three in the afternoon. He rubbed at his eyes and sat up on his sleep mat, looking around the room. Marny and Sebastian were stirring as well and the tape player had stopped playing it's music a while ago. He stretched, feeling quite refreshed even though he hadn't thought he needed a nap. Moony was tricky that way. He always knew when Harry did actually need a nap despite the little boy's protests.

Harry reached over and gave Sebastian a shake. The other little boy groaned groggily and sat up, looking around. He smiled when he saw Harry and then poked at Marny to get her up.

Sirius peeked into the room just then, knowing Harry usually only slept for two hours when he had a nap. He smiled, seeing the three children up. "Hey guys. Sleep well?"

"Yes." Marny giggled, standing up and dancing around on her mat happily. She did a little boogey move, making the boys laugh and join her.

"Alright then! Good, I'm glad you slept well. Now let's get these mats put up and have some snack."

"Snack!" Sebastian cheered and grabbed up his mat and pillow, shoving them onto one of the shelves the best he could. The other two did the same and they paraded down the stairs and through the play area to the snack tables where they found Jessie already starting in on graham crackers and milk.

"I thought you was at school?" Harry asked as he sat down in one of the chairs and reached for one of the graham crackers sitting on a plate in the middle of the table while Diane handed out three more cups of milk.

"I only have school til three." Jessie explained. "Then I come back here now so my daddy can work. My grandma used to watch me, but she said now she can go home and live at her own house in Bath. She was only staying cause my mummy is gone now and Daddy hasta work."

"My mummy is gone too!" Harry's eyes grew wide at this, not knowing that other kids could lose their parents as well. Or at least, he'd never met anyone else who had before. "And my daddy. So I live with my Paddy, and my Moony, and my Lexie." Harry pointed to Sirius and Remus who were also having a snack of graham crackers, only half of Sirius's seemed to be ending up getting lost when he dipped it into his milk.

"Really?" Jessie's eyes grew wide too. "My mummy went to the circus, where did yours go?"

"Oh…" Harry frowned, confused now. Why was Jessie's mummy at the circus and not with Jessie? "Mine went to heaven."

"Ooooh. That's where my granddad went too." Jessie nodded and took a bite of her graham cracker. Harry sighed. So Jessie's mummy wasn't dead, she was just at the circus. That meant she could come back someday, unlike Harry's mummy and daddy.

"I dun have no dad." Marny said after a moment. "He's a nutter, so we left him."

"I have two mummies." Sebastian stated quite proudly, holding up two of his fingers. "My Mummy and my Muma."

"Cool! I only have one mummy, right Mummy?" Marny smiled, jealous of Sebastian's two mummies, but glad for the mummy she did have.

"That's right dear." Diane smiled and patted her head, wiping away her milk mustache with one finger.

"I used stay at preschool all day with Miss Nancy cause my mummies hafta work all day but now I can come here. I like that better cause now I dun gotta do two of the same things every day cept brush my teeth and snack time." Sebastian beamed and chugged at his milk happily. He was doing a lot better now that he had gotten used to being here. It hadn't taken him long, but his anxiety was gone. He was with two kids he already knew and everyone was really nice here.

"I'm happy cause now I get to see my mummy more and my friends." Marny beamed as well, looking very pleased with this.

""I like it cause I dun gotta watch my grandma's stinky soap operas anymore." Jessie laughed spinning in a circle, having finished her snack.

"I like it too cause it's my Moony's and my friends are here." Harry smiled, shoving the rest of his cracker into his mouth and joining Jessie in her dance. They grabbed hands and bobbed their heads as they spun in a circle together, stopping to let Marny and Sebastian join. They spun and spun laughing and dancing around until Sirius, grinning, joined them.

"Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down!" He sang loudly and the children laughed, flopping down onto the floor and letting go of each others hands as they did so. Remus joined them for the next round while Diane sat out, clapping and watching with Nathan who was transfixed by their spinning. He laughed, clapping his hands together excitedly and squirming down from his mothers lap. He toddled over to the spinning group and Marny let him in, taking one of his tiny hands while Harry took his other one.

"Baby hands are sticky!" Harry laughed as they resumed spinning, slower this time so Nathan could keep up. When it came time to fall down, they fell backwards, Nathan laughing as he landed on his diapered butt.

After a good few more round of ring around the rosy, the kids were left in an hour long block of time referred to as 'free play'. They were left to their own devices, playing whatever they wanted within the play area. Harry and Sebastian got out a bunch of large plastic cars and trucks and started driving them along the road rug while Marny and Jessie took Nathan over to be their baby in a game of house, closely watched by the adults.

"Let's make a puzzle!" Harry said after a while of playing with cars.

"Okay." Sebastian nodded, liking the idea of puzzles. They pulled one off of a shelf and dumped it's contents down on the puzzle table, sitting down to construct it. Harry wasn't very good at puzzles to be honest. He usually needed help from his Paddy to get them done properly. Sebastian seemed to be good at puzzles though, as he bit his lip to find to right pieces that went together. They had also chosen a puzzle meant for kids a couple years older than them though, one with smaller pieces, at least twenty altogether. This wasn't like the six or ten piece puzzles Harry was used to at home.

"I think this one goes here cause it's got a flat side." Sebastian pointed to one piece and Harry nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, all the flat side ones go around the whole thing. That's what my Paddy says."

"Yeah. That's what my mummies say too." Sebastian smiled and they picked out the flat pieces, putting them along the edges and working at sticking them together in the right order until they had managed to form the outer square area of the puzzle. There were only six pieces left to figure out for the middle now and as they did so, Harry noticed something.

"Sebastian…" He laughed, pointing to the puzzle. "I think we made it upside-down!"

"Huh?" Sebastian looked down at the puzzle as he placed in another piece and then flipped the piece over so it would fit better.

"The sky's here and the grass is over there!"

"Oh! That's funny!" Sebastian started laughing as well, both of them finding the fact that their puzzle was upside-down hilarious. They managed to get the rest of the pieces in, chortling now and then and going crazy once they had completed it.

"Look Paddy! Look Moony! We made it upside-down!" Harry called, laughing and falling to roll around on the floor, hugging his tummy. It was so insanely funny!

"Wow, you guys did a good job then! There aren't many people who can make a puzzle upside-down!" Sirius laughed, watching the two little boys prance about excitedly. They were so very pleased with themselves.

As the day wore on, the kids continued playing, though there was a structured bit of arts and crafts around four thirty where they started workings on making clay pots that they would later be able to paint and put plants in. the flowers would then be grown as a sort of Mother's Day present. Remus wouldn't even need a kiln to dry them in, he knew a simple spell that would do the job a lot faster.

When six o'clock came and it was time for children to be picked up from daycare, the group was back to playing ring around the rosy like a bunch of giddy children. Well, most of them were children, though Remus and Sirius were having a blast with it as well. The doorbell rang And Diane went to answer it, letting in one of Sebastian's mummies and Jessie's dad.

"Daddy!" Jessie squealed and dropped her hands from Harry and Mary's, running for her father who scooped her up, smiling.

"Muma! Mums!" Sebastian called, racing over to his mother and hugging her around the leg as she tousled his hair and gave him a big hug and kiss.

"How was daycare, sweetheart?" She asked, lifting him up and giving him a good snuggle.

"It's the best! Can I come back tomorrow?" Sebastian pleaded, his eyes going wide. "We're had lunch outside! And played on the playground! And did homework and had a story and a nap and snack and played with cars and me 'n' Harry built a puzzle upside-down! "

"Wow, it sounds like you had a great afternoon." Sebastian's mum laughed, setting him down on the floor. "Thank you so much for looking after him so well. My wife and I have always had trouble finding someone to look after him and now we can both work during the day instead of at night."

"He's a great little guy." Remus beamed, reaching out to help Sebastian get his coat buttoned up properly. "We had a lot of fun today, didn't we Sebastian?"

"Yeah we did, Moony!" Sebastian laughed, spinning around in circles. He hugged onto his mum's leg again, smiling brightly.

"I'm so glad you had a good day! It's so lovely to have a nice daycare in the area. I'll have to tell some of my coworkers with small children about it. Especially after seeing how happy Sebastian seems to be here."

"We'll, we're happy to be of service, Lidia." Remus smiled. "See you tomorrow Sebastian."

"Bye Moony! Bye Padfoot! Bye Diane and Harry and Nathan and Jessie and Marny!" Sebastian waves as he and Lidia went out the door, smiling and skipping.

"I have to agree, Jessie seems to be in better spirits than she normally is when I get off work." Jessie's dad smiled, still holding his little girl on his hip. He gave her a tickle and she laughed, eyes shining brightly.

"I helped with the baby all day cept for kindergarten, Daddy! And Marny is my little sister now. And I helped pick the kids up from preschool too."

"Well, it sounds like you had a pretty fun day there, buttercup. Thanks again you guys. I'll have to let the Stubins know how well Jessie's first day here went. They were thinking about sending their two year old along but weren't too sure about it yet."

"We'd be more than pleased to have more kids. We've got quite a few spaces left." Remus smiled happily, glad his daycare's reputation was a lady starting to thrive. They needed ten more children to reach their capacity limit, but in a town this small they were likely to get more around the average of ten children instead of fifteen. Then at least there would always be. Place open in case someone needed emergency care during the day time.

"Oh it would be lovely to see this place teeming with kids." Jessie's dad nodded. "And are you really open for night time emergency's?"

"Yes. Diane lives about two minutes from here and Sirius or I can be here within ten minutes if need be." Remus nodded, glad he had thought of this particular idea when it came to his daycare. He wanted people to be able to rely on him to look after their children on a last minute notice so long as they had the space and proper paperwork done

."Wonderful!" Jessie's dad shook Remus's hand and Jessie waved goodbye as they left.

"Well, that's it for today." Remus sighed, feeling fulfilled from the day's activities. They had done well for their first day of being open. "That was a great first day."

"Any many more to come, Moony." Sirius nodded, hugging Harry on his hip and reaching out to give Remus a one armed hug."

"Many more to come." Remus agreed. He was glad of the path he had chosen.

* * *

Wooo! Another one! Yay! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I wasn't quite sure what to do with it at first. Anyways, lemme know what you thought if you'd like to, I always appreciate it very much.

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	41. Complications

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Forty-One: Complications_**

"Paddy, Paddy!" Harry tugged at Sirius's pants, climbing up to sit on the couch beside him. He pouted, pushing Sirius's newspaper out of the way and climbing into his lap without invitation. He got right up in Padfoot's face, glaring grumpily.

"What is it, Harry?" Sirius asked, a little taken aback by Harry's sudden forcefulness. He didn't usually push around like this.

"Paddy, I asked Hermione to come over Saturday, like you said, but she said no." Harry stated fiercely, looking very put out and edging on tears.

"Oh no. Did she say why?" Sirius asked, smoothing back Harry's hair and hugging him with one arm.

"She hassa stupid ballet residuum."

"A recital you mean?'

"Yeah, that." Harry nodded, heaving a great sigh and falling backwards on Sirius's lap so he was laying with his back in Sirius's lap and his head on the couch. "I never getta see her no more."

"Anymore. And yes, I understand. It has been a long while since you've been able to really see and play with Hermione. I don't think you two have really had a playdate since Christmas. Unfortunately, sometimes when our friends live a good bit away it's hard to get together with them. It's even harder when you or your friend is really busy a lot of the time, like Hermione is. She has a lot of activities she's doing."

"I don't like it." Harry kicked his socked feet in the air, lifting one to place it against Sirius's cheek. Sirius turned his head and kissed that little foot without a care for possible germs.

"Well, how about we see what time her recital is and go watch her dance in it?" Sirius suggested after watching Harry for a moment. He almost got kicked in the face as Harry sat up, his expression changing to be full of hope.

"Really!?"

"Sure! I bet she would like it if you saw her dance."

"Yay!" Harry beamed brightly, jumping up and down and dashing into the kitchen. Sirius laughed and chased after him, watching as Harry pushed a chair beneath the telephone on the wall. He picked it up and dialed Hermione's number, knowing what it was because of the list of numbers Remus had taped to the wall next to it. There were lots of numbers on it now, more so than there used to be and it had been growing all month since Remus's daycare had opened. There were now eleven children attending Sprouting Saplings. Including the original five children, there were now three babies one and under, two year old twins, the three pre-schoolers, Jessie and another kindergartener from her class, and a second grader called Gilbert who came after school. All Muggles with phones and numbers.

Harry waited as the phone rang, hoping from one foot to the other on the chair impatiently. He brightened and Sirius could hear Mrs. Granger on the other end.

"Hello, Granger residence, Jean speaking."

"Hi, it's Harry! Is Hermione there?

"She sure is, Harry. Hold on a moment and I'll get her. Hermione love… Harry on the phone for you!" There was some jostling in the back ground and Harry kept smiling.

"Hi Harry!"

"Hi Hermione!" Harry laughed happily, glad to hear her now. He missed her except for when they talked on the phone lately. She was one of his best friends after all. "My Paddy said maybe we can go to your ballet recitumm."

"Oh really!?" Hermione chirruped on the other end, sounding just as excited as Harry looked now.

"Yeah! Do you know what time you're gonna dance?"

"Hold on, I'll ask my mummy. Mummy! When's my recital?… Harry, my mummy says my recital is at three on Saturday at the Traveret Community Center and to say you can come. Yes Mummy?… She says to tell Mr. Black that you can just come, there should be more than enough seats."

"Okay." Harry smiled, turning his head to look at Padfoot. "Paddy, Hermione's mummy says her recitumm is at three on Saturday at the Tra-tra… er…"

"Traveret Community Center." Hermione provided with a laugh.

"Traveret Community Center. And we can go and there should be 'nuff seats." Harry repeated brightly, glad he had remembered it all. He sometimes had trouble remembering long sentences or words, but he was getting better and better at it. Lexie said it was because he was getting older so it was easier to remember things.

"Awesome." Sirius smiled, giving Harry a tickle. "Tell her we'll be there for sure."

"Hermione, my Paddy says we're gonna come!"

"Yay! Mummy! They're coming to my recital!"

…...

"Who is that handsome young man?" Lexie asked with a laugh, reaching out to straighten Harry's little golden snitch bow tie. Harry beamed, proud that she thought he looked so good. Sirius had said if they were going to the ballet then they should probably spiff themselves up a bit. Harry wore his red dress shirt and school pants and shoes with his bow tie. He was super excited to see Hermione dance, though he wasn't exactly sure what ballet dancing was except that the girls wore funny skirts for it.

"Is ballet a silly dance, Lexie?"

"Oh no, it's a very beautiful dance, Harry." Lexie smiled, handing him his coat. She and Harry were going to meet Sirius (who was putting in a little extra work this morning) and Remus (his turn to grocery shop) at the recital and then after they were all going to have dinner with the Grangers. This was the part Harry was most excited about as he would be getting to spend more time with Hermione. "You see, in a ballet they… ooooh…"

Harry blinked, watching as Lexie's face tightened in obvious pain and he frowned, eyeing her curiously. It wasn't like Lexie to pull faces like that. Had she hurt herself putting on her shoes? "Did you get a booboo, Lexie?"

"No, Harry, I'm okay. Now let's see. In a ballet they dance to lovely music and tell a story through their dancing."

"Oh! Like when Moony reads me my bedtime story?"

"Not exactly. There aren't any words. Just dancers and music to help tell the story. It's all very… ooooh." Lexie's face scrunched again and Harry's brow furrowed this time as she sat down on the floor, closing her eyes for a moment. "No no no…"

"Lexie?' Harry wasn't sure what was going on and worriedly, he sat down on the floor too, not knowing what else to do.

Lexie let out a groan and reached out a hand to pat him on the cheek. "It's okay love. It's nothing. Come on then, let's get to this…" She faltered and doubled over. "No, it's too early for… way too early…"

"Lexie?"

"Harry… I'm sorry sweetheart. We need to… oh bloody hell!" Lexie pushed up off the floor and went into the living room, making her way over to the fireplace. Harry followed, watching as she reached for the Floo powder jar that sat on the mantelpiece. It fell from her hand as she took a deep breath, looking quite pale. "Harry, I need you to be a very big boy right…. Now."

Lexie grabbed up the jar and unscrewed it, offering it to Harry. "You know how to Floo, right?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded apprehensively.

"Well, this time, you're just going to put your head in. Can you do that?"

"Sure. Paddy does that lots!" Harry nodded, having seen Sirius call his office a lot of times this way.

"That's a good boy. So, when I say so, put your head in and shout Auror Offices. Can you say… Merlin's pants…. That?"

"Auror Offices." Harry repeated with a proud smile. Of course he could say that.

"Excellent. So, you need to stick your head in, shout Auror Offices, and then ask for Sirius Black, alright? Tell him I need help."

"Okay." Harry nodded, recognizing that this must be one of those times when grown up help was needed instead of kid help. He was good at kid help, but if Lexie needed him to call Sirius, then he'd do it. He was smart enough to do so, old enough.

"One… two… three! Now!" Lexie threw some powder into the fireplace and it lit up green. Harry got down on his knees and put his head in the flames, not scared of them.

"AUROR OFFICES!" He shouted, just as he had been told. He felt his entire head spinning past fireplaces but his knees and hands stayed firmly on the floor of the living room. Wow this was weird! He giggled and coughed, getting soot in his mouth. He closed his eyes as he got dizzy and when the moving finally stopped, he found himself looking down a long hallway with shot grey paneled walls on either side, openings in them, and lots of people.

"I need Sirius Black!" Harry said hurriedly, but no one seemed to hear him. He repeated himself. "I need Sirius Black!" Still no one looked his way, too busy with their work to notice the head of a little boy having appeared in the fire place. Harry took a deep breath, knowing what he had to do now. "PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDYYYY! PAAAAADDY! PAAAAAAADDDDDY! PAAAAAADDDY! PAAAAA-"

"Harry?" Sirius appeared around one of the short grey walls. Upon seeing his godson's head in the fireplace he broke into a run, dashing between two witches who were looking at the fireplace in shock. "Harry, what are you doing?"

"Paddy!" Harry sighed with relief. "Paddy! Lexie needs help!"

Sirius paled. For Lexie to send Harry flooing his head to the Auror Offices during the middle of the day meant that she must really be in some sort of trouble, and it wasn't something silly either, like getting her foot caught in the toilet or something. She would wait something like that out or manage to magic herself out of it. No, this was different…

"Alright Harry. You pull your head out of the fire, I'll be there in a minute." Sirius nodded and Harry did as he was told, tugging his head back and tumbling backwards, soot in his hair.

"Paddy's coming."

"Oh thank Merlin. Good job, Harry. You wonderful little… aaaauuuugh!" Lexie doubled over again, clutching her stomach as she lay on her side on the living room floor, looking quite anguished.

Sirius appeared in the room after a moment and upon seeing Lexie curled up on the floor, fell to his knees. He brushed her hair back from her face. "What's going on?"

"The... B-baby." Lexie groaned, her face pale and sweaty. "Something isn't r-right."

"Okay... Okay... Hospital." Sirius hoisted Lexie into his arms, his eyes dashing about the room in almost a panic. They fell on Harry who was looking up at him, eyes full of fear. He didn't know what was going on. "Grab hold of my leg and don't let go, Prongslet."

Harry did as he was told, wrapping his arms tightly around his godfather's leg and sitting on his foot to have a better grip. He wrapped his legs around Sirius's ankle as well and Sirius suddenly spun on the spot without felt as though his entire body was being squashed inwards, but knew he was safe since he could still feel Sirius's leg right there. Just as he felt like his head would explode from not breathing, the world around them rematerialized, white and sterile.

"You can let go now, Harry. Stay close." Sirius stated. Harry let go of his leg and followed as they rushed down the hallway to the waiting room Harry recognized from having been to St. Mungo's several times before. This wasn't the happy waiting room though with other kids and toys. It was an adult waiting room with boring old magazines.

"Lexie? What's going on?" The woman behind the reception desk rose from her chair and rushed over.

"The baby... The baby." Was all Lexie could manage to get out.

"But you're not due for another two and a half months!" The witch stated in alarm, her eyes widening. She magicked a gurney out of thin air and Sirius set Lexie down on it. She gripped his hand, looking more scared than Harry had ever seen her. It made him scared too. What did she mean about the baby? Was something wrong with his little sister?"Paddy?" He reached up, gripping onto the end of Sirius's shirt nervously. Even his Padfoot looked scared.

"It's alright Harry." Sirius reached down to brush back his hair reassuringly. He knew he had to put on a brave face now, for Harry's sake even though at the moment he felt quite terrified. "They're gonna fix whatever is wrong, Prongslet. "

"Okay." Harry nodded, feeling a bit better now that he knew what was broken in Lexie could be made all better. They would probably be ale to go home in a few minutes...A hour passed, Sirius sitting with Harry in the waiting room. They sent a message to Remus through the Floo and he showed up not too much later.

"Harry, why don't you and I head home?" Remus suggested after getting the whole story of what was going on from Sirius. Harry frowned.

"But what about Lexie and my baby?" He asked, concerned. He didn't want to leave until Lexie was all better.

"There's nothing we can do for them right now, Harry. The Healers will take care of them. You and I will head home and see if you can go stay at the Burrow so I can come back see sit with Padfoot."

"Harry, I promise I will tell you what's going on as soon as I get some news, alright?" Sirius stated, hugging Harry tightly to him. He wasn't sure what was going to happen, but he knew it would be better if Harry wasn't there if there was bad news. He didn't want to break down in front of his godson. He needed to be strong for him.

"Okay." Harry nodded, looking sad. "Wait, what about Hermione's ballet recitumm? She'll be sad if we're not there."

"I'm sorry Harry. Hermione's recital would be over by the time we got there. I'm sorry."It was at this point that Harry's eyes welled with tears and he started crying. His little arms found Sirius's neck as he sobbed, unable to help it. He had been so excited to see Hermione and see her recital! And now he wouldn't get to see her or watch her dance and his Lexie and baby sister were really sick! It was too much for a four year old to handle, even if he was four and three-quarters.

Sirius held him close, kissing his cheeks and rocking him as he patted his back. "Shhh, Harry, shhhh. It's alright. I bet we can find another time for you to see Hermione and she can dance for you then."

"It's not today." Harry cried harder, his little heart so full of anguish at the moment. It was too much all at once for him to handle, and he was usually fairly good at handling things.

"Harry, I think it's time we went home now." Remus suggested again, reaching out a comforting hand. Harry shook his head, clinging onto Sirius.

"No. I want to stay."

"Alright. But only one more hour. And then we're going home." Remus stated firmly, sitting down next to Sirius and Harry who sniffled a bit. He clung onto Sirius tightly, leaning back against him and clutching both of his godfather's hands while Remus read to him quietly from one of the magazines about the best way to care for an owl.

"Mr. Black?"

Sirius perked up, lifting his head from where it was beginning to droop onto Harry's. His feet had been tapping anxiously on the flat carpeted floor. Remus stopped reading. Harry looked up at the Healer in her mint green robes.

"How are they?" Sirius asked, standing up, lifting Harry with him.

"They're fine." The Healer stated quickly. "However, Alexandria has what is called an incompetent cervix meaning her body is having trouble keeping your baby in and this started causing contractions. We've prescribed her a potion to keep her from contracting and going into premature labor that will need to be taken every eight hours on the dot without fail. She will also have to remain on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy. Now, I must warn you, that this potion is not foolproof. It only has a seventy percent chance of working beyond a total of two weeks, and that percentage dwindles with each continuous day. In all likelihood, we could be looking at ten week premature baby which could lead to all sorts of other risks simply due to the baby being underdeveloped at birth."

"Isn't there anything else that can be done?" Sirius asked, his voice cracking slightly, his brow furrowed with worry.

"Everything we can do is already being done, Mr. Black. However, premature infants are not all that uncommon, so we are well prepared for taking care of this baby when they are born. We have all sorts of special potions and enchantments." The Healer smiled. "You can go in and see Alexandria now, if you'd like."

"Yes please." Sirius nodded and he and Remus followed the Healer beyond the double doors, Sirius keeping his arms around Harry, not about to put him down. Something about having the little boy safely tucked up against his chest made him feel braver.

The room Lexie was in wasn't very far of a walk. When they got there, she was sitting up in bed, looking tearful but determined. Her head turned to the door as they entered and she immediately reached her arms out. "Sirius."

Sirius smiled and walked over, setting Harry down on the foot of the bed and bending to hug Lexie tightly. "It's going to be alright."

"I hope so." Lexie let out, her voice slightly choked. She let go of Sirius and opened her arms to Harry who crawled up the bed and into them, careful to mind her stomach like he'd had to do for the past few months. She snuggled him closed, kissing his head. "You are such a brave boy, Harry. You did just the right thing!"

"It was scary." Harry admitted, burying his face against her neck and breathing her in with relief. He had been pretty frightened, but he'd done as he was told and gotten Sirius instead of panicking, which was really something else for a kid his age.

"I'm sorry you were scared, but you did everything just right, Harry. I am so proud of you!" Lexie reassured him, smoothing back his hair and kissing both of his little cheeks.

"Is my baby okay?" Harry asked, eyeing Lexie's stomach apprehensively. He knew his little sister was in there somewhere, though he still wasn't exactly sure how she had gotten in there, just that it was a form of very special magic. Padfoot had said he would explain it to him when he was bigger.

"Yes, just fine." Lexie nodded, reaching up a sleeve to rub at his slightly runny nose.

"Then why're you sick?"

"You know how butterbeer bottles have corks on top to keep the butterbeer in?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

"Well, my baby cork is broken, but the baby isn't finished growing big enough yet, so it can't come out yet."

"Ooooh. Can you get a new baby cork?" Harry asked curiously, looking around as though trying to find a new cork. Perhaps it had to be a bigger cork than a butterbeer cork?

"Nope, I have a special potion instead and I have to stay in bed until after the baby is born."

"Yucky." Harry made a face. He hated taking potions and staying in bed and Lexie had to do both! Boy, he sure was glad he wasn't the one having a baby.

"Yeah, yuck! But it helps keep the baby in so it can keep growing until it's strong enough to come out and be with us." Sirius explained with a slight laugh, ruffling Harry's hair.

Harry pondered this over and then rested his hand on Lexie's protruding stomach. He placed his cheek down on it, listening for a moment before turning his face and pressing his lips against it. "Hey you baby, can you hear me!? You gotta stay in Lexie's tummy okay? Oh!" His head shot up from her stomach in surprise, eyes wide, patting at his cheek. "I got punched! My baby punched me!"

This was two much for the three adults. They burst out in laughter, unable to hold it in at Harry's antics. Despite the trying situation, his presence seemed to make things more bearable at the moment. A child's view on the world was such a precious thing.

"Hey you baby! You don't hit, Paddy says so! No hands, just hugs!"

…...

"So you're not mad?" Harry asked, speaking into the phone receiver the next morning. Sirius was still at the hospital, so he and Remus were working on making a breakfast for him and Lexie when they got home. Remus had suggested they call Hermione to let her know why they hadn't been at her recital. Harry had been quite worried that his friend wouldn't be very pleased with him.

"Oh, Harry. Babies are more important than ballet recitals." Hermione scoffed, as though this were common knowledge among their peer group. She had, of course, quite a different view on the world than your average five year old. "I'm not good at dancing anyway. I knocked over all the other girls on the stage, plush the scenery. Daddy said it looked like a set of frilly dominoes."

"Wow! I wanna do that, dominoes is fun!" Harry laughed gleefully, jumping up and down on the chair. Remus turned to look at him, curious as to what they were talking about. He smiled a little, returning to chopping up peppers. He knew spells for chopping, but wasn't so sure he wanted knives running rampant in a kitchen with a little boy in it at the moment.

"Harry, don't goof around on the chair, you'll fall."

"It was not fun! I'm still embarrassed, and Mummy says I still have to go to ballet because it'll help me learn to be graceful." Hermione pouted, sounding quite put out about having to keep doing ballet even though she'd basically ruined the recital single handedly. "I knew I should have just been a tree. Tress don't do a lot of moving, you know, so they don't knock over everyone else."

"We could both be trees. Trees are fun!" Harry pondered, thinking about how much he loved his tree house and the swing hanging below it. Oh boy was it fun to play out there when the weather was nice enough to do so.

"Yeah! Two trees with squiggly leaves!"

"Harry, careful on that chair." Remus warned again.

"Squiggly leaves, two trees, squiggly leaves, two trees!" Harry laughed, dancing about on the chair more, either ignoring or not hearing Remus. He lost his balance and went tumbling, the chair turning sideways as he hit the floor at a very awkward angle, his arm twisting beneath him harshly, the phone landing on his head as it fell and then bounced upwards, it's cord holding it higher than it could really stretch.

Remus dropped his knife, hearing the crash and a rather loud cracking noise. He dashed over as Harry began to wail as he'd never heard him wail before. It was a sort of howling wail, loud and pained. "Harry!"

Harry rocked slightly back and forth, clutching his arm to his chest as though he were cradling something delicate. Remus got down on his knees and, as Harry continued to cry, moved the arm cradling his other arm away so he could get a better look at the one that had obviously been hurt.

"What's going on in here!?" Sirius dashed into the room looking pale. He knew Harry never screamed or wailed like that… not even that time he'd accidentally broken a glass and thought he was going to get in big trouble. Nor the time he'd accidentally peed himself and thought Sirius was going to give him away. Wow, that had been a long time ago.

Remus reached out a hand to feel Harry's arm but the little boy shrieked like a banshee, turning his body away. "He fell off the chair. Harry, didn't I tell you not to goof around on the chair? Sirius, I think he's gone and broken his arms. I heard something crack."

"Merlin's pants!" Sirius reached out to Harry who whimpered, still bawling, but no longer howling, and looking quite pale in the face. "Harry, you've got to let us see your arm."

"What in the name of Dumbledore's beard are you boys doing?" Lexie asked, pushing through the swinging kitchen door , hands on her hips, belly protruding.

"You're supposed to be resting!" Sirius stated at once. "We've got this under control, you go and…"

"It certainly doesn't sound under control." Lexie shook her head and moved to get down on her knees, reaching for Harry's right arm. He whimpered, turning his body away in fear. It hurt sooo bad, he didn't want anyone to touch it. "Oh dear, shush now. That looks like a fractured wrist. Sirius, get me my wand, it's on the coffee table."

"Yes, dear." Sirius nodded and dashed to the living room. He retrieved Lexie's wand and returned, handing it to her.

"Now Harry, this is going to feel weird for a moment, but I promise it'll make everything all better, alright?"

Harry nodded, still sniffling and whimpering, unable to control himself as the tears kept falling. He didn't want it to hurt anymore.

Lexie pointed her wand at his arm. "Episky."

Harry felt a strange warmth envelope his arm, a shifting inside it, oh that burned! He let out another wail, and then, as though nothing had happened to it, his bones shifted back into place and sealed themselves back together. The pain suddenly lifted. Harry stopped crying, blinking, his eyes wide. He lifted his arm, looking at it in shock. He gave it a wave through the air and then burst out laughing. The pain was all gone!

"Lucky to have a Healer in the house." Remus laughed.

"Very lucky indeed." Sirius smiled, kissing Lexie on the cheek and lifting Harry from the floor. "All better, Prongslet?"

"Mhm!" Harry nodded, hugging Sirius around the neck, glad for the comfort of being held after his ordeal. It sure had been an interesting couple of days. "Thank you, Muma-Lexie."

Lexie's eyes watered and she reached out, hugging Harry the best she could without taking him from Sirius and with her rather large baby belly in the way. She rubbed her sleeve on his face, drying tears and boogers. "You're always welcome, Harry."

"Yes, Lexie, thank you." Sirius smiled, kissing her full on the lips now. Harry made a gagging noise and Remus laughed. What a typical four year old. "Now I believe it's time for ladies and little men to rest, per Healer's orders."

"Oh hush you." But Lexie laughed and she left the room to go lay down with Harry and Sirius following after her.

Remus picked up the chair and grabbed up the phone that was still dangling from the receiver. "Hello? Hermione are you still there?"

"It is rude to hang up without notice." Hermione stated quickly. "Is Harry okay? Did he fall? There was just a bunch of noise and crying."

"Yes, but he's fine. Just a little booboo."

"Oh okay. Is he coming back?"

"Is it alright if he calls you back later?"

"Yes. It's raining so we won't be going to the park later."

"Alright then. Talk to you later, Hermione."

"Good bye."

* * *

Okay, so I really do like this chapter and the way it came out. It's a little crazy! Hmm, I guess this baby thing is going to be a little more dramatic than expected. And oh gosh, Harry! He really did warn you not to play on that chair. I hope you enjoyed it as well! Please let me know what you thought if you'd like to, I always love hearing from you guys and really appreciate it!

Late alligators,

Love,

S.Q.O.


	42. Names

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Forty-Two: Names**_

A week passed from that scary weekend of contractions and broken wrists. Sirius was still going to work, but he had given Lexie one of his and James's two way mirrors should she need anything between breakfast and lunch, and then between lunch and dinner. Harry had been told not to speak to anyone at school or daycare about how he'd broken his wrist and then had it fixed up right away because Lexie had used magic to fix it. Harry understood this to be one of those things he couldn't share because his classmates and all the other kids at the daycare were Muggles and they couldn't know about magic. It was quite difficult not sharing something so very interesting as breaking one's wrist and he nearly slipped up when Miss Nancy asked them all what they did that weekend during morning circle time. Oh he had been itching to tell so bad! But Sirius, Remus, and Lexie had all told him repeatedly that he must not tell, so he'd sat on it and talked about how he'd talked to Hermione and she'd told him about knocking down all of the other kids during her recital and how she hated ballet but had to do it anyway.

Sirius worried constantly about Harry saying something. He was just a kid, sometimes they said things they shouldn't, even if they knew not to. They just couldn't help sharing when it came to things like breaking one's wrist or magic. But Sirius also knew the risk was worth it for Harry to get the good education he deserved and to be around kids his own age, to have friends. Especially Muggle friends so that he would grow up knowing there was no real difference between wizard and Muggle except for magic and when he was older and got to Hogwarts, no one could brainwash him into thinking any different. No one could tell him Muggles were stupid or lesser than wizards, because he would always know better than that.

And Harry did well. He didn't say a single word about his wrist to any of his Muggle friends, although he did get great joy out of sharing it with Ronnie and Ginny and Luna through letters and on the telephone with Hermione. Ronnie (with help from his mother) had written Harry back about how cool it was to have broken his wrist. Neither of them knew anyone else who had broken anything before.

"Like this?" Harry asked, a large baby doll in his lap. He didn't normally play with dolls unless he was at daycare with Jessie who had a thing for playing house and had chosen Harry to be the daddy, preferring his trains, blocks, and dinosaurs.

"Yes, that's perfect, Harry. Just like that. You keep your arm right under the head because babies can't hold their heads up on their own. Their necks are pretty weak, so we have to make sure they don't hit their head on anything." Lexie smiled, shifting Harry's hand to show him how the doll's head would fall backwards if he moved it. "See? Babies don't like when their heads do that."

"Okay." Harry smiled, glad to know that since he was going to be the best big brother ever. He had been spending time sitting on the big bed with Lexie while Remus cooked dinner. Right now though, Sirius was cooking and Remus was having his long rest, last night's full moon having been quite rougher on him than usual.

Yesterday, Lexie had shown Harry how to change a nappie and today she was showing him how babies were held and how to use a baby bottle. Harry liked the bottle part the best, because that was something he was really going to be allowed to do when his sister came when Lexie wasn't feeding her herself. It had also been explained that the baby wouldn't be able to play with him much while she was still little, but he could still do lots of things with her, like reading, singing, showing her toys, feeding, washing, picking out clothes, and tucking her in. He knew a little bit more about babies from daycare but he hadn't met a single baby under the age of six months yet, so he didn't know exactly what he was in for with a brand new one.

"You're going to be such a wonderful big brother, Harry." Lexie smiled as she handed him a bottle to feed the doll with.

"I'm gonna be the best big brother." Harry agreed, feeling he already had this baby thing down pat. He reached out a hand and patted Lexie's tummy. He bent his face down close, but not so close that he'd get punched again. "Hey baby, can you hear me? I said I'm gonna be the best big brother, okay? So you gotta be the best baby, okay? Hey, Muma-Lexie?"

"Hey, Harry?"

"What's her name?"

"Well, I don't know yet. Would you like to help Padfoot and I pick one out?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, excited at this. He was going to get to help name his baby sister!

"Alright! So you be thinking really hard about good names and you and I can talk about them. But let's not tell Sirius because it would ruin the secret surprise if he knew we were only picking girl names."

"Okay, Muma-Lexie." Harry nodded conspiratorially and they continued playing with the doll for a little bit longer before they heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Hey, dinner's ready." Sirius smiled, entering the room carrying a bed tray. He placed it down lengthwise between Harry and Lexie and then sat down on the bed himself, facing them in the middle. The tray contained one large plate holding fried bologna sandwiches and carrots as well as three sippy cups of milk. The sippy cups had become a sort of tradition for when anyone was sick and had to eat in bed. "There. Now we can all eat together. Remus is still out cold, poor fellow."

"I wish we could do more for him." Lexie heaved a sigh, looking sad.

"So do I. But at least he can get some rest and I made him up a rare steak with a side of double chocolate chip cookies for when he wakes. That'll cheer him up."

"Is Moony sad?" Harry asked with a frown. He didn't like it when his Moony was sad. But then, he knew sometimes around the full moon Moony was always sleepier and grumpier than normal. It always made him feel yucky when the people he loved most in the world weren't feeling well.

"A little bit. He doesn't like being a werewolf at all." Sirius explained, leaning over to press a kiss to Harry's forehead. "We just have to be there for him and give him lots of love, that's all. It's hard not being able to be yourself once a month."

" I'm gonna make him a picture." Harry stated simply, knowing that Remus loved his pictures very much. He bit into his sandwich happily chewing away at it.

"That's a lovely idea, Harry." Sirius smiled. "You can do that after you eat, but then it's bath time for you."

"Okay." Harry smiled, eating a little faster now. Once he had finished his dinner, he ran from Sirius and Lexie's room to his bedroom where he had his little table and coloring things. He turned on the light and sat down, pulling paper and crayons to himself so that he could make Remus a really nice picture. He colored Remus's head really big and eating a giant chocolate bar that was even bigger. When he thought it looked the very best, he grabbed his red crayon and wrote 'I love you Moony Love Harry' on the bottom. There. Now it looked perfect.

Picture in hand, he left his room and made his way up to the third floor. Those stairs were located between a wall that started where the upper landing's banister ended and the wall of the baby's room where they created a triangular alcove that went under them, sort of like his old cupboard, but without a door and no bumps in the top of it. Lexie had hung a curtain over it upon Harry's request, so that the baby could have a fort like the one he had downstairs, only in her room.

Up on the third floor of the cottage were Remus's room right at the end of the hall, and then the guest room to the right. Both rooms also had bathrooms that went off of them. There was a sort of sitting area they never used in a windowed alcove in the left side of the hallway. Harry liked it, but he would have probably liked it more if it wasn't so far away from the rest of the house.

He bounded down the hallway, skipping to Remus's room where the door was currently shut. He knocked, just to be careful, and upon getting no response, pressed the door open a little. If Moony was sleeping, he knew it would be okay to just leave his picture for him so long as he didn't wake him up. That was another rule he wasn't supposed to break. After and before the full moon, he was not to wake Moony up unless there was an emergency or one of the other grown ups told him to.

Remus was snoring soundly under his blue covers and Harry tip toed across the wooden floor to the night stand. He placed the picture down on it where Remus could see it when he woke up and tiptoed back out of the room, making sure he closed the door behind him.

Harry made his way back down to the second floor and into the bathroom where he could hear Sirius already running his bathwater. "I gived him my picture." He stated proudly, shucking off his shirt and tugging down his pants and underwear so he could get in the tub.

"Good." Sirius smiled and lifted him up, setting him down into the bubbly water. Harry immediately grabbed up his sailboat and began pushing it through the bubbles while Sirius wet his hair and then began scrubbing at it with shampoo. They had abandoned the morning bath time routine, unable to get much of a bath in before school. So after dinner it was. "What did you draw?"

"I made Moony eating chocolate." Harry smiled, putting a dinosaur on his boat and watching it tip over. "Rawr! Rawr! I'm gonna eat you, boat! Is he gonna be up in time for my story?"

"Oh, I bet he'll love that." Sirius smiled and lifted a cup to begin rinsing Harry's hair. "I dunno if he'll be awake enough to read you your story tonight, Prongslet, but I can still read it to you."

"Okay." Harry nodded as he pressed his boat beneath the water with his dinosaur, laughing. He tilted his head back to help his hair be rinsed better and continued playing for the next ten minutes or so until the clock struck seven forty-five. Harry was then dried and helped into his favorite train pajamas. He no longer needed his warm winter pajamas since it was spring and things were growing and blooming all over the place. Outside the house was already surrounded by all sorts of flowers Harry had helped plant and the vegetable garden was getting bigger and greener every day. They didn't have anything but green beans and lettuce to pick yet though. Harry liked looking for new baby vegetables sprouting from their vines.

Harry climbed into his bed and Sirius tucked the blankets up around him tightly. He grabbed the book Harry had chosen out and had just opened it when it was taken from his hands.

"I believe this is my area of expertise." Remus smiled and Harry giggled, clapping his hands.

"Moony's awake!"

"Yes, and I found this wonderful drawing on my bedside table from someone very special." Remus smiled, switching places with Sirius who took up his normal bedtime story position in one of Harry's small wooden chairs. "Thank you, Harry. That was very thoughtful of you. I love it."

Harry beamed, glad his picture was appreciated.

Remus read him his story, Harry listening closely throughout the entirety of it. Sirius wound the music box and opened it. Then they each gave Harry a hug and a kiss and left the room, turning out the light behind them. Harry settled down into his bed, comfy, warm, and safe.

…...

"A baby shower?" Harry asked curiously the following Tuesday. He was helping Remus set up snack time down in the kitchen of the daycare. He had been resting upstairs during quiet time with the other older children, but had been allowed to come out when Remus had come by to check on them half an hour after they'd been put down and he'd found Harry still awake. He or Diane would check once every ten minutes or so to make sure they were sleeping, just by peeking into the room through the two way mirror that spanned the length of the door. Each resting room had them, so that they could check on the kids without them seeing them doing so. That way if they needed a nap but hadn't fallen asleep yet and wanted to get out and play, they wouldn't know there was an adult there. Remus knew Harry's napping pattern well. If he wasn't out after half an hour of resting, he wasn't going to sleep. So he'd let him come down and play quietly while the others slept upstairs.

"It's sort of like an early birthday party before the baby is born." Remus explained, handing Harry a stack of cups to put down on the snack tables. Each table could seat up to six children, but they only currently had eight out of eleven who would eat snack at the tables while the three babies would be in the high chairs. Diane had placed three chairs at one table and five at the other. It helped prevent fighting between the twins to have them at separate tables and also between Jessie and the other kindergartener from her class, Veronica, who it turned out, she didn't get along with very well. They had originally thought of splitting it half and half with four at each table, but then the three preschoolers hadn't liked being at separated tables. So five and three it was.

Harry put a cup at each place and Remus followed after him, filling each with apple juice. Harry was then given three sippy cups and two bottles, all already filled. After a moment of deliberation (Remus wanted to see if he figured it out), Harry rearranged the cups. He traded one lidless cup at his table with a sippy cup and moved it to the other table where the next sippy cup went. Those were for the twins who still had trouble with spilling a lot. Then he put the remaining sippy cup and the two bottles on the three high chairs. He knew that sippy cup was for Nathan, and the bottles were for Carrie and Brian, the younger babies. Then he looked up at Remus, waiting.

"Perfect Harry! That's exactly the right cups at the right tables. Good job." Remus smiled, ruffling his hair. It was good for Harry to work on solving things like that out on his own. It made him use his brain and access his memory to figure out things.

"So we're gonna have a birthday party for my sister?" Harry asked now that they were done with the cups. Remus was handing him small bowls with frozen peas and carrots in them and he was carrying each to set it next to a cup. It had been discovered in the second week in the daycare business that the kids preferred to eat vegetables for snack if they were in small frozen bits that they could pick up with their fingers. It was how Diane got Marny to eat her vegetables and it had been working. Remus wasn't sure why they preferred it, just that they did. And if it got them eating vegetables, then that's what would be done.

"A sort of birthday party, yes." Remus smiled, helping him put out the bowls. He set a jar of baby food on each of the two younger babies' high chairs. They weren't quite ready for more than mashed food. "With cake and silly games."

"Ooo. I like cake." Harry nodded to himself. He especially enjoyed treacle cake. "When is the party?"

"This Saturday (on May twenty-fifth in case our readers are wondering). We figured we'd better have it early just in case the baby comes early." Remus explained, lifting him up to give him a quick hug. "Well, Diane should be back with Jessie, Veronica, and Gilbert in a few minutes. Do you want to go upstairs and peek through the doors to see if the other kids are awake yet? Call me if the babies are, but if Marny and Sebastian are you can open the door and tell them it's snack time. But don't forget to put away your mats, pillows, and blankets."

"Silly readers. Okay!" Harry nodded excitedly. Remus set him back down and Harry dashed away. He raced up the stairs and peeked through the door to the baby room first. He could see Nathan playing with a stuffed bunny. Carrie was using the bars to hold herself up and bounce up and down on her knees. Brian was eating his toes. The twins, Abigail-Lynn and Leigh-Anne, had somehow pulled their cribs together and climbed into one where they were currently having a tug of war with a blanket.

Harry went to the big kid room next and peeked in. Both of his friends were sitting up. He opened the door and peeked in. "Moony says it's snack time, but we hasta pick up mats."

"Harry!" Marny laughed, standing up. Harry entered the room and together the three pre-schoolers put their mats, pillows, and blankets away on the correct shelves. Then they head downstairs to the snack area just as Diane came in the front door with Jessie, Veronica, and Gilbert, the big second grader.

"Hey guys! Just wake up?"

"I've been up. I helped Moony make snack." Harry announced proudly. Diane laughed and helped the older children put their things away in their cubbies before they all headed into the snack area as well.

"Moony, the babies are all awake." Harry told him when he sat down for his snack.

"Thank you, Harry." Remus smiled. "I think we're going to have to hire another care giver." He informed Diane as she came into the snack area.

"Yes, I think so too." She agreed. "Veronica, don't even think about it!" Veronica, a little blonde haired girl had just been about to grab one of Jessie's pigtails. She was quite the trouble maker and usually spent time in the Quiet Corner at least three times a week, sometimes more than once in an afternoon if she was in a particularly naughty mood.

Remus headed upstairs to get the first set of babies and came back down carrying Abigail-Lynn and Brian. While he got them situated into a chair and a high chair, Diane went upstairs to get the next set, then sat down to help feed the Carrie and Brian while Remus went upstairs to retrieve Leigh-Anne. The need for one more person was definite. Technically speaking they had needed to hire as soon as they hit over ten kids, but since Gilbert usually only came on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and Carrie only came on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it was rare for them to have all eleven of the children on the same day. This was actually the first time it had happened when Gilbert's mother had called that morning saying she had to cover a sick co-worker's shift today.

"I'll put up an ad in the newspaper and we can have interviews next Wednesday afternoon since Sirius should be here then."

"Sounds good." Diane agreed, spooning some strained peas into Brian's mouth. He gobbled them down and held his mouth open for more. Carrie was an entire different story, crossing her arms and pouting her refusal to eat even though Remus knew she was hungry. It just took a little coaxing to get her to open up.

Once snack was done, Gilbert, Jessie, and Veronica got their homework from their school bags and got to work on it at the snack table. Diane kept the babies occupied by spreading out a small pile of toys for them to reach and crawl for. Abigail-Lynn wanted to color like the big girls, so she was given some paper and crayons while Leigh-Anne and the three pre-schoolers gathered into the comfy reading corner for a story. This was the typical after snack routine, though the twins differed in what they wanted to do from day to day.

"Alright you guys, today it's Leigh-Anne's turn to pick out our story. What book do you want to read, Leigh-Anne?" Remus asked. The two year old went to the bookshelf and eyed the books for a few minutes before she grabbed one out and held it up to Remus. "Rosalin's Little Red Wagon, what a good choice Leigh-Anne!'

"Ooo, that is a good one." Sebastian agreed with a nod and Leigh-Anne laughed, clapping her hands together happily.

"Red wagoon! Red wagoon!" Leigh-Anne danced about in a circle and then plopped down on her bottom, diaper crunching. She and Abigail-Lynn hadn't quite started potty training yet, though, if their interest in peeking at the other kids doing it was any indication, it wouldn't be long.

"Alright. Let's see here…" Remus smiled and opened the book, holding it so all of the children could see the pictures. "Rosalin has a little red wagon that she likes to put things in. "Do you want to go for a ride in my wagon, Yellow Duck?" Rosalin put Yellow Duck in her little red wagon. Yellow Duck needs a friend. "Do you want to go for a ride in my wagon Blue Bear?" Rosalin puts Blue Bear in the her little red wagon with Yellow Duck…"

Harry listened attentively. He quite enjoyed this book, looking at the pictures and seeing what the little girl in the book was going to put in her wagon next. He didn't know it, but Remus was teaching them colors and animals with the book, all sorts of colors and animals. There was a turquoise monkey and an indigo giraffe. A burgundy elephant and a mauve moose. And the wagon got fuller and fuller until it could no longer hold any more animals.

When the story was finished there was begging for an encore, which Remus gladly gave… two more times, especially after Abigail-Lynn and the two kindergarteners joined them. Gilbert was a big old for this book, but Diane got him started on an easy reading short chapter book that was more his age group and he was content to sit in one of the bean bag chairs with it.

The end of the daycare day seemed to come quickly after that. Children were retrieved by their parents, most of them happy, though Carrie was starting to get fussy. When the last child was gone and it was just Harry and Remus left in the daycare, they turned out the lights and headed out to the car to take the ride home. It would have looked strange if they didn't take Remus's car to and from but somehow managed to get to the daycare everyday without anyone seeing them walking there.

When they got home, Remus made dinner while Harry and Lexie worked on thinking up good names for the baby and writing them down on a list. They had started doing this the day before and Harry had been thinking of names all day.

"So, think of any good names today, buddy?" Lexie asked with a smile as Harry climbed up onto the bed with a small notepad and a red crayon in his hand.

"Mhm!" Harry nodded. He'd been writing down names in the car on the way home, spelling them out the best he could. His list was as follows:

Jayme

Carrie

Evon

Beyonkah

Taly

Mareah

Rozilynn

Vironeca

"I got lots of names today. See?" Harry held up his list proudly and beaming, offered it to Lexie who smiled at him.

"Wow, Harry! That sure is a lot of names. Why don't you read them to me?" Lexie laughed, resting her hands on her stomach as she leaned back against the pillows. She was quite sick of being stuck in bed most of the time, but it beat having a baby come too early.

"Okay!" Harry sat back on the bed too and read his note page, excited and happy to have more names to five his sister. "Jamie. Carrie. Yvonne. Bianca. Tally. Maria. Rosalin. And Veronica. I knowed howta spell Carrie and the 'lynn' part of Rosalin cause Carrie is on the phone number list and so is Abigail-Lynn, but I forgot how to do Veronica, but I don't like that name too much anyway cause Veronica isn't a very nice girl."

"Well you did a good job sounding them out, Harry!" Lexie smiled, knowing that this list would be scrap booked once Harry was done with it. "Those sound like the names of a lot of your classmates and daycare buddies. Where did you get Bianca and Rosalin?"

"Those were from books I like." Harry explained with a smile. "Do you like my names?"

"Yes, they are all very good names. We'll have to think about which one we like the best though, won't we? Because she's only going to have one first name and one or two middle names." Lexie took the notepad from Harry and looked it over with a smile. He was a good name collector. Yesterday he'd come home with fifteen girls' names. "Here, go put this in the secret hiding place so Padfoot doesn't see it."

"Okay." Harry nodded and took the notepad back. He raced from the room and up to the third floor where he hid the notepad underneath the cushion of one of the chairs in the windowed alcove nobody really used. He came back down just as he heard Sirius apparate into the living room.

"Paddy!" Harry raced to greet him, running down the stairs. Sirius caught him up, smiling and kissing his cheeks.

"How's my boy?"

* * *

I've definitely hit one of those writing surges to do four chapters in nine days. I really liked writing this one in particular because... I just really did. A more detailed view of Remus's floor of the house (I didn't even know where the stairs to it were before today! And I think they must have added that sitting room alcove when I wasn't paying attention, because I swear it wasn't there when they moved in or was it?), more daycare action (Ooo more kids!), more baby stuff which, I would like to point out, is mostly all getting Harry involved so he has a hand in the preparations. Because that's what parents should do to help ease older children into having a new little sibling. And thank you Remus, for slipping that date in there for anyone who has lost track. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I do! My sleepy chihuahua says 'You should all review if you have the time and want to because I'm adorable and I'm even more adorable when my human is smiling and happy and writing and reviews make her smiley and happy and write more which means I get to snuggle under the blankets by her warm butt more.' If you have time and you want to, for the sake of the adorable doggy's extra warm butt heated sleepy spot, review.

Supermegaawesomefoxyhott supercalafragalisticexpialad ocious love,

S.Q.O.

PS: I dunno why it keeps spacing my docious, pretend it didn't.


	43. Fun

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Forty-Three: Fun_**

Harry placed a yellow rubber duck on the very top center to the two layer cake he and Remus had just decorated together. Remus had made it yesterday and let it sit overnight in the fridge to cool before they had gotten it out this morning to frost it before the baby shower that would start at round eleven. Harry was quite looking forward to the party because he was going to get to meet some of his mummy's other old school friends and see some of his friends. Hermione wasn't going to make it yet again and Harry was beginning to wonder if he would ever see her. At the moment though, he was busy licking the left over icing off of a spoon.

"Mmm. Blueberry." Harry beamed, glad for the delicious snack of frosting so early in the day. It wasn't usual that he got to eat sweet things so close to breakfast unless syrup was involved. "How's it coming?" Sirius inquired as he came in from the dining room.

"Good!" Harry laughed, running to hug his leg in excitement.

"Awesome! Wanna help me set up the dining room, mate?"

"Yes!" Harry nodded and skipped past Sirius into the dining room where his godfather had been hanging up decorations. Harry burst out laughing, pointing at the chandelier. "Paddy, why are there nappies hanging from the light?"

"Those are special surprise nappies. There's secret surprises in them. Whoever wins a game gets to pick one and keep the prize they find."

"Oooooh! What's the prizes, Paddy?" Harry asked curiously, eyeing the diapers with even more interest now. They seemed even more exciting than they had a few moments ago now that he knew they had things in them. Things were always more fun with prizes in them.

"What are. And if I told you, then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it." Sirius grinned and swooped Harry up from behind, spinning so that his legs flew through the air. Harry let out a yelp of surprise and then glee as he was spun about and then set down on next to the hutch cabinet that held all of their good dishes, extra silverware, tablecloths, and other random assorted items. "Want to help me with the tablecloth?"

"Ooooo." Harry nodded. They very rarely used a table cloth on any of the tables, so whenever they did use one, he knew it was for a really special occasion. Today was pretty special. After all, they were having a party to celebrate his sister. He had been very good so far about not spilling the beans about the baby being a girl to Padfoot. Moony already knew of course, having been told by Lexie as soon as she knew so that he could help her fix up the nursery properly. "What games are we gonna play?"

"Well, we'll have some kid games for you and your friends and some grown up games for the adults. You get to pin the nappie on the baby and a race along the backyard path with a stroller, pacifier horseshoes, blanket races. It'll be a lot of fun." Sirius smiled as he pulled a tablecloth from hutch and handed it to Harry.

Harry smiled and climbed up onto a chair and dropped the table cloth down on the table and began unfolding it. Once it was just a pile of mushed cloth he lifted one edge up and tossed it. It floated upwards and then gently floated downwards, landing neatly on the table without a single wrinkle. Harry laughed.

"Good job mate!" Sirius beamed, ruffling his hair. He always enjoyed seeing the random bouts of accidental magic that expelled from his godson. Whether it be the sudden upwards swoop of his swing going higher than it should have from a dead stop, bubbles floating out of his ears, or table clothes righting themselves, Harry enjoyed it too.

Decorating finished, Harry and Sirius went to help Remus finish making the food for the party and then there was nothing left but to wait for their guests to arrive.

At eleven the doorbell started ringing. Harry ran to get it, excited to see if it was one of his friends. Lexie had relocated from the bed upstairs to the couch where she leaned against a cushion, hands on her stomach protectively.

"Harry!" Luna squealed brightly, hugging him as the door was opened to reveal her and her mummy. Harry laughed, jumping up and down with her in their excitement.

"Luna! Luna!" Harry beamed. It had been a while since he had properly played with Luna, though they had sent letters back and forth quite a bit. They usually were able to get together about once a week over at the Burrow with the Weasley kids where they spent most of their time playing in the garden.

"Where's your baby?" Luna asked curiously, her eyes glancing around the hallway as though waiting for a baby to pop out from somewhere.

"In Lexie's tummy growing." Harry laughed, as though it were the simplest thing in the world. They skipped, holding hands, into the living room where Luna raced over to inquire about how babies got inside tummies and Harry ran to answer the doorbell again, Sirius getting there first.

Harry hugged Sirius's leg, peering shyly up at the couple of ladies who had rung. There was a very nice looking woman a bit older than Sirius standing there, her auburn hair flowing tidily down her back. Standing beside her with a girl of about eleven who was bouncing from one foot to the other anxiously.

"Andromeda!" Sirius laughed, reaching out to hug his cousin with a bright smile. "And holy crap, is this Nymphadora? I haven't seen you since you were about six!"

"I'm eleven now and don't call me Nymphadora!" The girl rolled her eyes, looking quite stern about this. Harry wondered why someone wouldn't want to be called by their own name, but then, if he had had a name as long as Nymphadora's he thought maybe he wouldn't want to be called by it either. "Call me Tonks, everyone at school does."

"Or Dora, but that's her father." Andromeda laughed, shaking her head. "Be nice to our cousin, dear, it's been a long time since we've seen him. It is lovely to see you, Sirius. I'm sorry I haven't been by sooner."

"That's alright, I'm just glad you could come today." Sirius smiled. "You and Tonks. Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Nope." Tonks smiled brightly now, looking a bit smug. "Mum wrote to say I should come home for the weekend for Auntie Lexie's baby shower, since Auntie Lexie is my favorite. Oh, but I guess she'd be kind of my cousin more now?"

"Sort of, but she's not really your aunt, so it's alright." Andromeda smiled and they entered the house, Harry deciding he rather liked this Tonks girl. She was big like Bill and Charlie, but seemed plenty fun.

"Not quite cousins yet, dear. I'm not getting married for a while." Lexie called from the living room. "Now come give me a hug, I'm not allowed up."

Tonks left to head for the living room and Sirius bent down to detach Harry from his leg, scooping him up. "Harry, this is my cousin, Andromeda. 'dromeda, this is Harry."

"Hi." Harry grinned, feeling safe in Sirius's arms. He had gotten much better at meeting new people, but he sometimes still needed a little safe haven when doing so. Sirius's arms were his favorite. "I'm five." He stated boldly and rather cheekily.

"Not quite yet you aren't," Sirius laughed and set Harry down on the ground. "You won't be five for another two months."

"Paddy…" Harry whispered conspiratorially in his little kid whisper that wasn't much of a whisper. "I'm trying to be bigger."

"I know, but you're perfect being you." Sirius responded, kissing Harry's cheeks.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Harry." Andromeda smiled and Sirius gave Harry a little push in the direction of the living room. Harry chased after Tonks and ran into Luna as he turned the corner into the living room. She was standing with her face to the ceiling, looking up at the wall of colorings Harry had made, some of them hers as well. She fell backwards and Harry blinked, toppling down on her and laughing when he realized what had happened. Luna burst out into giggled and the two of them pushed themselves back up.

"Harry, lookit all them pictures." Luna stated excitedly, pointing to the entirely covered wall. Harry beamed proudly.

"My Paddy and my Moony and my Mama-Lexie put all our pictures up there that we wanna keep." Harry explained, pointing to one in particular. "I made that one yesterday and it came out real good, so Paddy took one of the old pictures off and put it in our picture album so we had room for the new one. Wanna see?"

"Yeah!" Luna clapped her hands together and Harry wandered over to the bookshelf on one side of the fireplace. He pulled out a thick album and set it down on the floor. He and Luna sat down and opened it, admiring each of Harry's older pictures which had been placed gently and securely into the album which wasn't quite full yet. Harry was proud of his pictures mainly because Padfoot was always proud of them, so they kept the really special important ones and recycled the not so good ones. "Wow, thatsa lotta pictures."

"Yeah." Harry beamed and they looked through the album a little bit more before Ronnie came running over, having just arrived.

Once all of their guests had gotten there, they ate the cake and started to play the games, which Harry thought was the best part. He was getting better at playing games in general, his hand eye coordination having improved over the past school year.

"Faster Ronnie, faster!"

"I'm trying!" Ronnie laughed as he and Harry moved their legs the best they could. Sirius had tied their legs together so they had to act as a team during a race. Harry wasn't quite sure why they were running a race this way, but it sure was silly! They were racing against Ginny and Luna, Tonks and Fred, George and Percy, and Sirius and Remus.

Ginny and Luna had fumbled over themselves three times within the same two feet, unable to properly figure out how to walk tied to one another. Harry and Ron were struggling as well. They knew they could do it somehow, but getting the pace right was quite a bit more difficult than it looked.

"What if we say try words?" Ronnie suggested after a few minutes of struggling. "In for the in legs, and out for the other ones?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded in agreement. "In!" He and Ronnie moved the legs they had tied together. And then they moved their loose legs. "In! Out! In! Out!"

Using their voices to help let the other know which leg they were moving made Harry and Ronnie very happy as they finally managed to run without tripping over themselves. They dashed passed Percy and George who couldn't agree on how to move and then over came Remus and Sirius who had stumbled into one of Harry's plastic sand buckets, his foot caught.

Harry and Ronnie got to the tree and turned around, heading back to the patio where the finish line was. Tonks and Fred were well ahead of them and they tried to run as fast as their tied together four and five year old legs could carry them. It was with a great deal of laughter that they got to the patio and tripped, landing in a heap right after coming in second.

"Wow! Wonderful job boys! Now that's what teamwork is all about." Mrs. Weasley beamed as she helped them untie their legs. "You figured out the problem and worked together to come up with a solution to reach your goal."

"That's cause we're best mates, right Ronnie?" Harry asked, beaming so proudly of their having done a good job. Even though they hadn't beaten Tonks and Fred, they had still finished the race, which Sirius had always said was most important.

"Right." Ronnie nodded in agreement and tackled Harry down on the grass. They rolled around like a pair of puppies for a moment, just laughing and wrestling with one another until it was time for the next game.

The baby shower went off without a hitch, everyone having a good time and wishing Sirius and Lexie the best of luck with their baby.

…...

"Where're we going, Paddy?" Harry asked curiously as Sirius helped him do up the last button on his raincoat. It was Sunday, the day after the baby shower and Sirius had announced he and Harry were going on a trip that morning. He wanted to spend a bit of time with just him and Harry before the baby came so he could continue to reinforce the idea of Harry always being his little boy even if there was another kid in the picture.

"Well, that's a surprise, mate." Sirius grinned, ruffling Harry's hair and plopping the red rain hat down on his kid's head. Harry smiled, liking surprises but also wishing he knew where they were going. But if it was with Sirius, he was sure it would be plenty of fun. He hadn't gotten to spend a day with just him and his Paddy in a good bit, so this was quite exciting.

Sirius pulled on his own rain coat, hat, and boots and he and Harry left the house. They wandered through the rainstorm that was flowing down upon their part of the world, down the muddy lane. It wasn't really windy and the rain wasn't very hard, so it wasn't bothersome to walk through. Harry laughed, jumping in a muddy puddle and then another, excited just to be walking in the rain instead of having to stay inside.

When they got to the end of the lane, instead of turning left towards town, they turned right and continued down along the dirt road instead of the paved one. Curious, Harry looking around. He had never been down this way before, though it didn't look very different from the lane he lived on. There were rolling hills on either side, stretching farther and farther until they hit the horizon. He had asked, once, what the hills were and Sirius had simply said the open land was called a moor. There weren't any trees really, just lots of grass. Harry liked it. It was so different from Privet Drive where all the houses were the same. Of course, there were trees closer to the Burrow where the moor changed to forest somehow or other. Harry liked the forest too. He and Ronnie had plans to start building a good fort on there in the future. Luna and her family lived right out on the open moor, the only trees near their house being the ones in their garden.

As they continued on their way, Harry spotted a fence. It was very basic, just wooden poles and wire strung from one to the other in two rows.

"Look, Paddy! A fence."

"That it is, Harry." Sirius laughed. "Look how far it travels. When we reach the end, we'll be at our destination."

"Wow, that's a long way." Harry remarked, though he was too excited to be tired. He was looking forward to seeing what his Paddy had planned as a surprise for him. They walked for three-quarters of an hour, Harry keeping occupied by pointing out anything new and jumping in puddles. The rain let up, though the sky was still covered in a blanket of light grey clouds and the two men watched as the sun peeked through, making the puddles in the road shimmer. Harry laughed, renewed with excitement just from the sun and he dashed along, jumping in each and every puddle he saw. Sirius smiled. They could have easily apparated, but it was much more fun to watch Harry enjoy himself.

"Harry, watch this one!" Sirius called, pointing to one particularly large puddle. He gave a leap and landed straight in the middle, sending up a really big splash. Harry laughed and clapped his hands, racing over and jumping into the puddle next to Sirius, sending up another pretty big splash.

"Paddy look a cow! Another cow! And another!" Harry shouted all of a sudden, jumping up and down in pure excitement, pointing to the fence where there were suddenly about fifteen cows milling around eating grass.

"Yes, Harry." Sirius laughed, bending down and swooping Harry up into the air from behind and onto his shoulders without warning. Harry yelped in surprise and grabbed hold around Padfoot's head to keep his balance. He held on with one arm and pointing with the other after he had adjusted his butt properly so he wouldn't go falling so easy. "I see them."

"Moooo! Moooo!" Harry laughed, waving to the cows as they walked. The cows looked up from their eating for no more than a moment before returning to it. They were obviously nonplussed to the little boy mooing at them. "I never saw a real cow before, Paddy. They're so big!" Harry beamed, tilting his head to look down at Padfoot who tilted his had back a bit, smiling up at him.

"Yes they are. You just wait til you see the surprise. If you think the cows are cool, you are going to love this."

Sirius carried Harry the rest of the way, though it wasn't very far at all now.

"Paddy! I see a house." Harry announced a few minutes later. "And a big red barn! And a little chicken house! And and…" Harry's eyes went wide as he leaned forward on Sirius's head. "Paddy, do those horsies have wings?"

"They sure do, Prongslet." Sirius laughed. They continued walking and when they reached the front gate of the house, a man was waiting for him. He was dressed in jeans and an old shirt, a hat on his head to keep the sun off. He wore a bright smile and waved as though he had been expecting them.

"Welcome, welcome!"

"Hello Henry! It's such a lovely day." Sirius smiled, lifting Harry down from his shoulders as the man opened the gate for them. "Thanks for having us."

"No problem. I just love company."

"Harry, this is Mr. Wilkinson, he owns the farm with all the cows and chickens and horses." Sirius explained. "He was a friend of your grandparents, so I figured we'd come and visit and see all the animals. Your dad and I used to come here quite a bit during our summer breaks."

"Oh!" Harry beamed, looking excited now. His eyes went from one thing to another. He could see regular farm animals, like the chickens, and the cows, and some pigs, but there were also the horses with wings, a pen full of fluffy custard colored furballs, another pen with little black creatures, and a rather strange looking bird sat upon the porch railing. "There's lots of fun animals here."

"Sure are." Sirius smiled, watching as Harry took it all in.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to some of them." Mr. Wilkinson smiled, offering Harry his hand. After a few moments of deliberation and an encouraging nod from Sirius, Harry took it. If Sirius said it was okay, then it was okay. He was learning more and more how to trust people. And Mr. Wilkinson seemed very nice with his grey hair and beard. Sort of like Santa, only not because he ran a farm instead of making toys.

Harry was taken over to the pen with the custard colored fluff balls first. Mr. Wilkinson opened it and took one out. It was about the size of a large grapefruit. "These are puffskeins. This ones just a baby, but it'll get bigger until it's about the size of a Quaffle. They're very gentle."

"Wow." Harry eyed the purring creature curiously. It blinked big blue eyes up at him and it's pink tongue snaked out from somewhere under it's fur. It shot up into his nose, making him jump back with shock, his green eyes wide. "Ah!"

"Oops, sorry bout that. He's just hungry, that's all. For some reason they like to eat boogers." Mr. Wilkinson laughed, offering the puffskein to Harry now. Harry took it and held it in his arms. It purred and closed it's eyes, wriggling and snuggling up against his chest happily. "Looks like she likes you."

Harry smiled, patting the puffskein. She was very soft, like milkweed fluff. "I like her too. I've got an owl at home. She's called Hedwig and she's white."

"A snowy owl then, huh? Is she a good owl?" Mr. Wilkinson smiled as they put the puffskein back in the pen with her family.

"Mhm. She's good. She carries mail." Harry nodded proudly, glad to have someone to talk properly about his owl with. He just adored Hedwig. She was one of his very best friends, sleeping in the cage that hung from his bedroom ceiling, the door of it always open.

"Well, that's wonderful. It's always good to have a proper mail owl around." Mr. Wilkinson nodded and pointed to the pen with the black creatures. "Those as nifflers. Cuddly little fellows. Have to be very careful though, as they love anything shiny. They love to dig and burrow under the ground for things. That's why their pen is so large and half of it's beneath the ground, connected to my basement so I can hide things in the dirt for them to find."

"Wow!" Harry grinned, impressed with the nifflers. They seemed like really neat animals. Once he had pet a niffler, they continued to walk around the farm. Harry saw the pigs, which turned out to be quite funny, rolling in the mud, and then they went into the pasture with the cows so he could pet one.

"These are dairy cows, right Henry?" Sirius asked curiously as he stroked the side of a particularly large cow who mooed and looked back at him curiously.

"Yes and I make butter and cheese from the milk." Mr. Wilkinson nodded. "Have you ever had milk straight from the cow, Harry? I know Sirius has, and your father did as well when he was alive."

"No, can I?" Harry asked, eyeing the cow excitedly. He knew milk came from cows and that it squirted from their udders, but he had never seen a cow actually get milked before outside of Muggle picture books having spent most of his life in suburbia.

"Sure!" Mr. Wilkinson smiled and pulled a tip cup from his belt where it was hanging. He reached under the cow and gently squeezed a teat. Harry's eyes went wide as he watched the milk stream into the cup. "Wanna try?"

"Yes!" Harry nodded and he allowed Mr. Wilkinson to show him how to hold the teat and pull on it gently without hurting the cow. More milk streamed into the cup and they kept at it until it was about a fourth of the way full.

"Well, go on and try it then. Straight from the cow. It doesn't get any fresher than that."

Harry eyed the cup and then raised it to his mouth, taking a big sip of the milk. He laughed, his upper lip white as he pulled the cup away. "It's warm! And good!"

Mr. Wilkinson smiled as Harry offered the cup to Sirius who took a sip and then gave it back to him.

"It is good, Harry. Mmm." Sirius smiled, glad Harry was having a good time. It was good for kids his age to get out and do things like this. It was the time of their life when the little things, like cows and milk were considered to be the coolest things ever and that make it all the more special. "We'll have to show the baby how to milk a cow too, when he or she comes, right Harry?"

"Yes!" Harry laughed, knowing not to say that the baby was a she. He was very good at remembering that. He was sure his baby sister would like the cows as much as he did.

"Well, we've still got the horses to see. Would you like to go for a ride?"

"On a horse!?" Harry's whole being bounced with excitement now. Ride on a horse? He'd never done anything like that before! The most he had ever done was right on Sirius's back when he was being a doggy, but that didn't count because he could do that any old time. But a horse? A horse was big!

They left the cows and made their way over to the horse paddock where the wings horses were standing, basking in the warmth of the sun and flicking off flies from their backs with their tails. Mr. Wilkinson climbed over the fence into the paddock. He walked right over to a grey dappled mare and stroked her on the nose. She whinnied, pressing her nose into his hand, her lips moving as though looking for a treat. "This here is Sarah. She's as gentle as they come, isn't that right sweetheart?"

Sarah whinnied again, pawing at the ground and nuzzling at Mr. Wilkinson again before Harry caught her eye and she lowered her head to where he was standing at the fence still. She stepped forward, her chest on the fence and bent her head down at the little boy, eyeing him curiously before nibbling gently and playfully at his red hat. She lifted it from his head and Harry laughed, watching as she tossed her head a bit, as though she were laughing as well.

"Loves kids, Sarah does." Mr. Wilkinson smiled. He grabbed a bridle from where it sat hanging on one of the fence posts and took the hat from Sarah. She allowed him to put the bridle on her with ease, not bucking her head against it like some of the other horses might have. Not that they didn't like their bridles, they just were finicky in general. But not Sarah, never Sarah.

Mr. Wilkinson led the wings horse out of the paddock, making sure to close the gate behind her. Sirius picked up Harry, lifting him onto the bare back of the horse before climbing up himself. Mr. Wilkinson handed him the reins with a smile. "I trust you remember what you're doing?"

"Of course." Sirius nodded. "It's been a while but some things never leave you."

Mr. Wilkinson nodded with a smile. "Aye. That's so. Go ahead and have a trot about the yard while I get Carvahall ready."

Sirius nodded and then leaned forward, taking one of Harry's hands and lifting it to Sarah's black mane. "Harry, you can hold on here as tight as you like. I've got you, but just to be safe."

"Okay, but won't it hurt Sarah if I pull her hair?" Harry asked worriedly, looking down at the horse's neck. He had never been up so high before! The ground seemed very far away from where he sat upon the top Sarah's shoulders in front Sirius. His legs dangled, comfortably resting just above where the wings began and the beginning Sarah's neck between his legs. His back pressed against Sirius to help keep him safe, his godfather's arms on either side of him, holding the reins.. Sirius's own knees fell right upon the strong thick joint at the front of Sarah's wings, cradled there. Sarah didn't seem to mind this at all.

"Nope. Won't hurt her at all. You can pull on her mane as much as you like and she won't feel it." Sirius explained, smiling and taking off his hat. He tucked it into his pocket and then gently pressed his knees against Sarah's sides. On a normal horse one would use their calves, but Sarah was a Pegasus, so he had to use his knees.

Sarah knew exactly what to do, being the intelligent creature that she was. She began walking, picking up the pace to a slow trot when Sirius gave her another gentle squeeze. Sirius's hands only had to make the lightest of movements with Sarah to show her which direction they wanted to go. She was very well trained and the magical blood in her body made her smarter than the average horse, just like Hedwig was smarter than the average owl.

Harry gasped, his eyes wide as they moved. He had never ridden a horse before, but it felt much different than riding his toy broomstick, that was for sure! Sarah's movements were graceful. He could feel each of her legs moving beneath him, the hoof hitting the packed dirt of the yard with ease as Sirius had her go about.

They stopped when Mr. Wilkinson joined them, riding atop an impossibly large black stallion. Together, they rode away from the house and yard, heading out into the cow field and then beyond, out onto the rolling moor. Here the sun shone brightly catching the bit of purple heather.

"Ready Harry?" Sirius asked as Sarah began to trot.

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, not sure what Sirius was talking about, but knowing whatever it was, he was excited for it. He let out a yelp as Sarah picked up more speed, both her and Carvahall breaking into a full gallop upon one of the flatter bits of land. Without warning, Harry felt the wings just behind him spread and then…. Then Sarah kicked off as Sirius raised the reins. Harry felt himself slide a little bit backwards into Sirius, but held on very tightly to Sarah's main, the wind whipping at his face now as they went upwards at a slight angle before straightening out when they had reached to be about fifty feet off of the ground.

Harry gasped, looking around and down at the moor below as Sarah's wings flapped every now and then, mostly gliding gracefully through the air. His four year old heart was soaring, beating with exhilaration at this most wonderful feeling of something new. He was a bit fearful, but knew he was safe with Sirius. And he sure did prefer his toy broom over the slight rocking motion of the horse, but it was still quite wonderful to be up here, flying through the sky like this.

"How you doing, Prongslet?" Sirius laughed, having felt his godson tense up a bit while they were going upwards.

"Good." Harry blinked, turning his head to look up at Sirius and grinning. "Sarah is a good flier."

"That she is."

They flew over the moor for a long while, soaking up the sun and enjoying the freshness of the air. It was a beautiful day, not quite summer yet, but definitely close.

When it was time to head back to the farm, the horses circled over the yard and then landed gently, as gracefully as possible. Sirius slid down off of Sarah's back and then reached up to help Harry down. Harry wobbled slightly, his legs a bit off from having been on the horse for so long. But he was smiling, happy to have had such a great day with his Paddy.

Mr. Wilkinson came over carrying an apple. "Here, want to give this treat to Sarah? They're her favorite."

"Okay!" Harry laughed and took the apple, holding it out to Sarah before Sirius showed him quickly how to hold his hand out flat so she didn't accidentally nip his fingers. Harry smiled, giggling as Sarah chomped half the apple and then went back for more, drool and apple juice making his little hand all sticky as she ate from his palm, licking it when there wasn't any apple left for her to chomp.

After feeding some of the other horses apples and helping put Sarah back in the paddock, Sirius and Harry said thank you to Mr. Wilkinson and started on their way home, walking hand in hand and jumping in puddles as they went along. Harry chattered about their visit and Sirius was happy just to listen, enjoying the sound of his little boy's sweet voice so full of life and joy.

* * *

Hey guys! I am so so very sorry about such a long wait on an update for this particular story! I got a particularly nasty message about the last chapter from someone that wasn't just good honest criticism (which I appreciate), so it put me off for a bit. But finally, here it is! I hope you enjoy it and don't think it's crap. I'm particularly fond of the horse part. As always, I love hearing from you and what you think, whether it be good or critical (so long as you don't swear at me), so if you've got the time, I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on it!

Much love always,

S.Q.O.


	44. Arrive

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Forty-Four: Arrive_**

Harry awoke cuddled up in his bed, his face buried against his plush dog Snuffles, to the sound of screaming.

"SIRIUS! SIRIUS!"

Confused and worried, Harry climbed out of his bed, his bare feet hitting the floor just before he ran over to his bedroom door and peeked out. The voice he heard shouting was Lexie which both worried and scared him since if she were to get up and walk around for too much, the baby might come too early. But Harry had never, ever heard his Muma-Lexie shout like she was now. Something was definitely wrong, even he could sense that.

Harry dashed down the hallway to Sirius and Lexie's bedroom, pushing open the door fast and peering in, almost worried to step a foot inside. Lexie lay on the bed, looking pained. She curled up, panting and tears were beginning to fall down her cheeks.

"Muma-Lexie?"

Lexie looked up at Harry and after a moment of seeming to catch her breath she smiled at him, forced. "Harry get your father, the baby's coming."

Harry nodded and dashed away from the room, running as fast as his little legs could carry him, down the hallway to the stairs and then down the stairs. "PADDDDY! PADDDDY! PADDDY! THE BABY'S COMING!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Sirius called back, coming in through the front door of the house. He liked to drink his coffee on the front stoop and gaze up at the sky in the mornings. He had spent too long in Azkaban, oh how he loved to be able to just look at the sky for a while. "Harry, get your shoes and coat on. Don't worry about anything else. REMUS!"

Harry watched as Sirius ran up the stairs to the second floor. He figured this was the day maybe he'd get to meet his baby sister, so, excited, he shoved his feet into his red rain boots and pulled on his jacket, just as Sirius had told him to. He grabbed his conductor's hat from where it hung on the short hook, not wearing it as much as he used to but still being quite attached to the thing. It was something his Padfoot had gotten him that very first day they were together and he loved it dearly.

As he waited for the grown ups, Harry's eyes fell upon the stuffed toy he had picked out for his sister just the other day. It was a bird, a sparrow to be exact, all brown, and a bit reddish, and cream. And it was round and soft and puffy with floppy wings. Harry thought it was a great bird.

Not wanting his sister to not have her present when she came, Harry grabbed up the sparrow and hugged it, holding onto it and watching as Sirius carried Lexie down the stairs and into the living room, Remus on his heels carrying the small duffle bag packed with things for Lexie and the baby. "C'mon Harry!"

Harry chased after the adults.

Sirius and Lexie Flooed first, and then Remus quickly scooped up Harry.

"Ready to be a big brother?"

"Yeah." Harry grinned brightly and Remus stepped into the fire.

"St Mungo's!"

After a lot of spinning and holding on tight to the sparrow to make sure he didn't lose it, Harry and Remus came to a stop at the hospital. Remus stepped out into the waiting room and took a seat, Harry happy to stay on his lap. He looked up at his favorite werewolf. "Where are Paddy and Muma-Lexie?"

"They'll already have gone through to a special room to have the baby. It could take a long time though, so what do you say we head up and get some breakfast?" Remus suggested, knowing it would be a bad idea to have Harry up this early and not feed him while he had the chance. He was a good kid, but he could get grumpy when he was hungry, even if he didn't mean to. He and Harry would still be at home right now if it weren't for the fact that they had discussed that a week ago, about where they would be when the baby was born. Harry had been adamant about wanting to be at the hospital so he could go see his baby sister right away and give her her birdy. He was so very firm on the matter, stating "I need to give the baby the birdy." over and over until all the grown ups had backed down.

Sirius stood, holding tightly onto Lexie's hand as she screwed up her face, shouting at him rather angrily as she went through a particularly rough contraction. "This is…oh! All your fault… augh! You bastard!"

Sirius winced as he began to lose the feeling in his hand, but stood firmly beside the bed, knowing it was his duty to be there during this most wonderful, if painful, of times. He could barely contain his excitement at finally, finally, meeting the child he had created, wondering whether he would have a daughter or a son. No one, not even Harry, had slipped up and told him what the baby was going to be. He was the only one in the house who didn't know yet, hadn't even peeked into the nursery. However, he was worried as well.

This child, this little being, had only been cooking for twenty-eight weeks. Not due until the end of August, here they were, the 27th of May. The Healers had done all they could to prolong the pregnancy, but this was it. There was no way to stop the baby from coming now and all they could do was hope for the best. However, the few weeks with the potion had prolonged the pregnancy had also added a precious 20% to the expected survival rate for babies born early. The Healers were ready, prepared with a special bassinet charmed to regulate body temperature and count heart beats, special potions, and of course, experience.

Harry sat, his back leaned up against Remus's legs, head tilted, eyes clothes. His mouth was open, snoring just the tiniest bit as his hands continued to hold onto the wooden blocks he had been building a tower with before he'd fallen asleep.

It had been seven hours since they had come to the hospital and Harry, fed lunch not that long ago, had passed out due to having been up a bit earlier than he normally would have been. Remus was contently reading a book he'd been meaning to catch up on, knowing that the day care was in safe hands with Diane and one of Sebastian's mothers who, miraculously, did not have to work today.

Sirius smiled as he entered the waiting room just for people waiting for news of babies. He strode over to Remus and lifted Harry from where he sat, snoozing on the floor, and beaming, allowed the little boy's head to fall onto his shoulder.

"Well?" Remus asked, rising to his feet, eyes full of excitement now. Last time in this room it had been him and Sirius waiting together, waiting for James to come and tell them Harry had arrived safely.

"I have a daughter. A beautiful little daughter." Sirius reached out and he and Remus hugged in their joy. "She's pretty small, only about 2 pounds and five ounces. We don't know everything yet though… They're doing tests and getting her situated. Seeing what she needs help with the most since she's under-developed. But you guys can come and see Lexie and they'll let us know more about what needs to happen with the baby soon…. She's so small, Remus. Like… this big." Sirius shifted Harry to hold his hands apart.

"Wow." Remus blinked, knowing that she probably looked smaller than she was because she would be keeping her limbs closer to her body still. "It'll be alright, Padfoot. You know what the Healers said about 28 week babies, the percentages are high."

"I know…" Sirius sighed, looking tired but still quite joyful at the same time. It was strange, to see the look of concern and happiness on one face all at once.

"Paddy?" Harry mumbled, raising his head from Sirius's shoulder and yawning as they started to walk down the hallway to the room Lexie was in. He rubbed at one eye. "Is my baby here?"

"Yeah Harry. She's here. She's very very little and needs some help from the Healers, so it'll be a little bit before you can see her. But we can see Lexie for now."

"But I wanna see my baby." Harry pouted, crossing his arms disappointedly. He had been waiting and waiting for what felt like most of his entire life to see his baby sister. He was nearly five, but he lacked patience with most things. Sirius, Remus, and Lexie had been trying to help him with this of course, but trying to convince a small child he needed to wait could be difficult sometimes, especially when Harry was really bent on something.

They arrived at the room Lexie was sharing with one other woman who had just had her own baby not that long ago. She looked tired, but pleased at the same time, reaching her arms out for Harry who Sirius set down on the bed. Harry crawled forward, snuggling up beside Lexie like he was used to doing since he hadn't really been able to sit in her lap for a few months now.

"Hello there sweetheart." Lexie smiled, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

"Hi." Harry smiled back, reaching up and touching her cheek. "Is you okay?"

"Are. And yes, I'm fine." Lexie laughed, knowing she probably looked like hell. She cuddled Harry close.

"Here we are." A Healer stated sweetly, rolling in a see-through bassinet. Harry's eyes went wide and he leaned over Lexie as the Healer brought the bassinet over to the opposite side of the bed.

Inside, wrapped in a soft yellow blanket Harry recognized as one from home, was the tiniest person he had ever seen in his whole entire life, including baby dolls. His baby sister's skin was red, but also kind of see through due to her pre-mature birth. Her eyes were closed, asleep, a tiny blue hat on her head with a golden snitch on the front. She had some sort of clear tube in her nose and another one in the arm that stuck out from the blanket, obviously left out on purpose.

Unable to resist, Harry reached a hand out to her, one little boy finger finding one newborn fist. She retracted it quickly, eyes still wide, the adults watching him with amused looks. "She's warm! And soft. And little." He stated in the best whisper he could, obviously quite awe-struck.

"Yes, she is." Sirius nodded, coming over to stand on the other side of the bassinet next to the Healer. He reached down and gently swiped one finger across his daughter's forehead.

"She has to stay in her bed for a while yet." The Healer explained with a smile. "She can't quite regulate her own body temperature yet and she's going to need help breathing and eating before she can nurse properly as well. But she's healthy and strong for a preemie. But we can try some skin to skin care later, once you've rested up a bit. It's wonderful for babies to have that type of contact, it helps with their body temperature regulation and bonding. But she probably won't be able to go home for a while yet, not until she's passed all of her tests."

"She has to take tests?!" Harry asked in shock. He knew all about tests. He got them at preschool with his letter sounds, reading, and number skills. He wasn't so sure his baby sister was going to be able to do all of that yet, could see? "I dun think she can read yet so she might not do so good."

The Healer laughed. "Oh, don't you worry. These are special baby tests, like feeding and breathing, staying healthy and getting bigger."

"Ooooh." Harry smiled, glad they weren't hard tests after all. He didn't want to have to wait until his sister could read for her to come home. Why, he could do all of those things easy without even really thinking about them!

"So, Harry. Which name do you think we should call her?" Lexie asked curiously, reaching out to ruffle Harry's hair with one hand while her other one stroke a tiny newborn cheek. They had been working really hard on that name list Harry had been writing and Lexie had been helping him create with added names from Sirius, who, of course, had also suggested boy names. In the end though, they had narrowed the names down quite a great deal until they had three good ones.

Harry frowned and looked from Lexie and then to Sirius, then to Remus, and finally, his eyes landed upon his new baby sister. And then he stared, for a few minutes, silent, as though trying to decide which name was the very best. The baby's mouth opened in a yawn and Harry smiled. "Rozilynn."

"Then that's what we'll call her." Sirius beamed, reaching out to ruffle Harry's hair gently, proud. "Rozilynn Lily Black."

Harry's little heart soared. "Hey, hey, hear that Rozilynn? That's your name. Rozilynn. Oh!"

Harry quickly turned around, reaching his arms out to Remus who had been gazing silently down upon the happens up until now. He was so happy to see everyone he loved the most so very full of the same joy he felt when looking upon that tiny little baby. Remus held the chubby soft sparrow in his hands still. It was quite large for a toy, small enough for Harry to wrap both arms around it, but still quite a bit larger than Rozilynn.

Harry held the bird up. "Rozilynn, this is for you. He's a birdy. Birdies go chirp chirp. Moony said this one is called a sparrow bird. Do you like him? He is a very nice birdy."

"I think she likes him, Harry." Lexie smiled, reaching to take the birdy from him. She took one of the birds soft floppy wings and sat up a bit. She held the bird close to herself and gently ran the super soft fleecy part of the underside of the wing against Rozilynn's cheek who let out what sounded like the very tiniest of little noises. It was not an angry or scared noise, but rather just a noise in general. Though, if anyone had asked Sirius, his little girl had just sighed in contentment. Harry beamed with such pride it was almost as if his little heart would burst.

…...

The next day Harry was quite excited to get to school. It was Tuesday and he could not wait to see all of his classmates and the daycare kids to tell everyone about his new sister. He skipped his way to the classroom door, holding onto Remus's hand. He gave Moony a hug and Remus kissed him on the forehead. "Have a great day, Harry. You too, Marny!"

Harry and Marny waved bye while Remus went to drop off the morning kindergarteners from the day care and the two preschoolers headed into school. Miss Nancy smiled as she saw them come in.

"Good morning! It's so nice to see you. Harry, we missed you yesterday! Remus called to say you would have some very exciting news to share with us today at circle time."

Yep!" Harry beamed proudly, his little chest puffed out. He was so very very happy about being a new big brother that he could barely contain himself. It was a good thing circle time wasn't too long off! He didn't know if he could keep his big announcement secret for too long. He hadn't even told Marny yet.

"Alright children, everyone gather around! Time to say good morning!" Miss Nancy called. The class came as they had been train to do, dashing over to the carpet and taking their usual seats around the edges. They didn't have very long left to their preschool days and would be big kindergarteners soon. Almost everyone in the room had turned five by now. Harry was only the second youngest out of the bunch, his table buddy Violet having been born in August.

"Alright, let's everyone say our good mornings and then, afterwards, I think Harry has something very important he would like to share with us." Miss Nancy explained with a smile. The class looked at Harry curiously. They knew it had to be something pretty special since he hadn't too at school the day before and Miss Nancy was letting him tell them during the good morning circle. It was always something exciting when you got to share at good morning circle.

The children sang their good morning song to one another, going around the circle and shaking hands with one another as they sang. "Good morning to you. And good morning to you. I'm happy to see you again my friends. Let's have a wonderful day!"

The children cheered, hugging their buddies and then looking to Miss Nancy for further instruction.

"Alright, Harry. Go ahead and tell everyone your very special news!"

Harry rose and ran to his back pack. He pulled out the photo he had brought of his sister that had been taken the day before. They had taken a lot of pictures yesterday but this one was particularly one of Harry's very favorites. He hugged it to his chest, hiding it from his classmates and moving to stand next to Miss Nancy at the circle.

"Yesterday I did not come to school." Harry began, knowing that some of the best sharing stories always started with having missed school. Usually when you missed school it was because you were sick and they didn't let you announce that because everyone got sick. But if you had missed school and got to announce why, then it was quite the big deal, especially when you were this young. "I had to go to the hospicle."

"Was you sick?" Preston asked in awe, raising his hand above his head as he spoke. Harry shook his head.

"Nope. I hadda go because… because…" Harry paused, not quite sure how to word it for a moment and the, grinning broadly, held his picture up above his head with the ultimate of prides. The picture was of Rozilynn in her bed, sleeping peacefully while Harry peered through the glass on the other side. Remus had immobilized the photo this morning so it would not move in front of all the Muggles. "I am a big brother!"

"Oh wow!" Miss Nancy clapped her hands together. "Harry that is simply wonderful news! Congratulations! Does anyone have any questions for Harry?"

Hands shot up into the air. Harry pointed to Marny first.

"Does you got a brother or a sister?"

"A sister." Harry couldn't contain the pride that filled his voice. He was so very happy to be sharing this with his friends! Oh how exciting to have a sibling!

"What's her name?"

"Rozilynn. My Paddy and Muma-Lexie let me pick her name too."

"Wow! I didn't get to pick my sister's name!" One of the girls stated, awestruck.

"Does she cry a lot? My brother always cries a lot."

"She cries sometimes but she just sleeps a lot more." Harry explained after he thought about it for a bit. The truth was he had only see Rozilynn for a little while, long enough to take pictures. She had cried once, needing changing, but that had been about it. Sirius was going to pick him up from the day care after lunch to go see her again for a bit as well.

"Wow, Harry. It sounds like you had a very very exciting day yesterday. May I see your photo?" Miss Nancy reached a hand out and Harry handed her the picture, still beaming. "Oh my, she is beautiful, Harry! What a lovely sister. May we pass the photo around so everyone can see her properly?"

"Yes." Harry nodded in agreement, knowing his friends would be careful with his picture. Miss Nancy had taught them how to handle pictures gently and how to not rumple them during their Photography Appreciation week. Everyone was pretty good at it, though, they were still preschoolers. Rozilynn's picture was passed around the circle with interest before finding it's way, safely, back to Harry. It had a bit of peanut butter on the back, but was other way pretty unscathed.

…...

Sirius showed up at the day care later that afternoon, much later than previously planned. Harry was busy helping clean up the snack table, so he didn't notice when Sirius came in the front door and took Remus aside.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked at once, noting the look of concern upon his best mate's face. Sirius had been at the hospital all night and day so far. What had started out as a good day had turned sour once it got dark out.

"The baby's… She's hooked up to all these contraptions and stuff, run on magic of course. Anyway, she's having respiratory problems and is anemic. She's gonna be there for a long while. They won't even be testing her visuals until she's about three weeks old though there is a stronger chance of eye problems. I just… I wish she'd been able to cook longer." Sirius heaved a sigh, resting his forehead on Remus's shoulder, tired and worried.

"It'll be alright. The Healers know what they're doing. They have a lot of experience with premature babies, even more so than Muggles since the rate of early birth is higher in wizards, though we're not sure why." Remus explained, hugging Sirius tightly.

"And, no one but Lexie or myself is allowed to even see her anymore because her immune system isn't… well… They don't want her overly exposed to outside sources."

"Harry is not going to like that…"

"I k- oh hey buddy!" Sirius perked up as Harry came running over, smiling excitedly. Sirius scooped him up and cuddled him.

"I'm ready to go see my baby." Harry announced brightly. He snuggled up to Sirius, nuzzling his face into his shoulder happily.

"Harry, today I need to go right back to the hospital and you need to be good for Moony again.""But we're gonna go see my baby?" Harry stated, quite confusedly. He heaved a sigh. How did one explain to a small child that a promise had to be broken?

"I know, I know, Harry. But Rozzie is very sick today, so she can't have visitors for a little while. Just Lexie and me. We'll go as soon as she's feeling better." Sirius stated calmly, knowing that if he let his worry be known it would rub off on Harry and make him worry and want to go all the more.

"But… I made her a picture at school…." Harry explained, feeling extremely disappointed. He had been looking forward to going back to see his baby sister later that day.

"I'll bring it to her, okay? I'll make sure she gets it and knows it's from her big brother who loves her very much." Sirius promised, hugging him even tighter, knowing it had to be hard being little and wanting something. He had found it difficult, being away from Harry last night, but knowing he was needed more at the hospital.

Harry sighed. "I wanna go too."

"I know, Prongslet. I wish you could but she's too sick right now. I promise you can come when she's doing better."

"Okay." Harry pouted, his little being shlumped with sadness. He had wanted to go see his sister and Lexie and spend more time with his Paddy. "Are you gonna come home tonight?"

"I'll make sure I'm there to give you your bath and say goodnight." Sirius nodded, knowing he didn't want to miss out on doing that two nights in a row. He needed to be there for Harry as well, knew it was important to be there for both of his children. Even if it was for little bits of time, like bathing and tucking in, it made all the difference. Even if it was just half an hour, even if it was just the five minutes right now… time was precious and valuable. A simple hug or display of love in-between the times you couldn't be there. When you were little, those things mattered.

"Alright, Prongslet. I've got to get back to the hospital now. But I promise I will be home for your bath and bedtime." Sirius hugged him, kissing both of his little cheeks. Harry nodded and then wriggled. He raced away and grabbed up the picture he had made for his sister from the cubby he had at the daycare. He handed it to Sirius.

"Don't forget."

"I won't. I will never, ever forget."

* * *

So, I will be the first to admit that this is totally not one of my better chapters. However, I did try my best on it. Aw, but how cute is Harry with Rozzie? I'm doing my best to keep this very Harry-centric of course, though I fear I shall slip up every now and then I hope, sincerely, you don't hate me for that. This chapter doesn't have quite as much Harry in it as I'd like either, even though he's pretty much present the entire time. But I do hope you enjoyed it anyway! Thanks for reading, and as always, I love hearing from all of you if you've got the time! I appreciate all of your reviews, favorites, and alerts, even if I don't always respond.

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	45. Tears

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Forty-Five: Tears**_

"Oh Harry, I'm so proud of you!" Sirius beamed as he helped Harry straighten the little red graduation cap he wore on his head. The school year had finally come to a close and today the preschoolers were officially graduating from being preschoolers and becoming bigger school children even though the kindergarten classroom was in the same building as the preschool. It wasn't custom in most places for the children to have a graduation ceremony just leaving pre-school, but rather, one of the town. It was a celebration of milestones met, of children officially no longer being considered babies in the community. The kids had spent the day before making their own graduation caps out of their favorite colored construction paper which they had colored or then added stickers to. The brim of each had the child's name on it and the top had a tassel made out of red and black, the school's colors. The children were all dressed in their best clothes, no uniform needed today. The boys all wore dress shirts and pants, some even had ties while the girls all wore pretty dresses.

Harry beamed with pride. The parents were ushered outside onto the playground where chairs had been set up for them on open grass space. Sirius, holding a large video camera, sat with Remus and Lexie, all three of them very pleased. Remus had the younger day care children sitting on the grass in front of them in the front row, each of them holding a thick round ring with a string twined round it, connecting their ring to the next kid in line. The babies who were too small to walk the five minutes to the school were sitting in the large wagon beside Diane's chair.

The preschool class filed out of the building onto the playground in a single file line by last name, just as they had practiced the day before with their teachers. They filled three rows of tiny chairs set out for them facing the parents. Harry was in the second row, more towards the end. He waved, looking excited. This was a big deal for any kid, graduating preschool.

Miss Nancy came out and stood off to the side of the children, smiling. "Thank you all for coming to our graduation ceremony! To begin, the children would like to sing you their favorite song that they learned this year. One… two… three."

Harry opened his mouth, singing along with his classmates, his little hands forming seeds, trees, branches, and birds. They sang about how a tree grew from a seed and how a bird came from an egg that sat in a next in that tree, thus explaining how one thing helped another even if you never really thought about it. Harry quite enjoyed the part about the tree springing up from the ground from an itty bitty seed. Once the song was done, all of the relatives watching clapped wildly like they were at the world's best concert ever. Bright smiles appeared on children's faces. It was so good to know you were appreciated and loved."And now, we shall begin handing out our diplomas." Miss Nancy announced, walking over to the small desk that had been brought out into the playground. She had a container full of rolled up pieces of paper tied with ribbon, initials of each child upon the ribbon so the order wouldn't get mixed up. One of the other teachers helped her, sorting and handing her the correct 'diploma'. When a child's name was called, he or she rose and walked forward. They received a hug and a handshake from each of their teachers, as well as their diploma and a rose. When it came Harry's turn to go, he stood proudly and walked the short distance to his teachers, a big smile on his face."Whoooo! Go Harry!" Sirius cheered, taping him on the camera, smiling just as widely. He was so very proud of his boy. There would only be two more graduations in this little boy's life, one from primary school, and one from Hogwarts when he finished his seventh year. But for now, he was still just a little boy, not yet five, but ready to take on what the world gave him so long as he had a loving family behind him.

After all of the children had received their diplomas and rose, they were allowed to toss their hats into the air (to be collected right after or by one of the teacher who would be sure to get it back to them). Harry's hat flew through the air amid a rainbow of colors while the parents and grand parents and care givers cheered.

Harry ran to Sirius once he had grabbed up his red hat and replaced it on his head. Sirius was ready, his arms catching the little boy and swinging him up into the air laughing. Harry beamed, his hat flying off into Lexie's lap as he was spun about until Sirius grew too dizzy and slowed down to just hold him.

"Look at you big boy! Preschool is all over and done with, just like that. Remember how you were scared to go the first day? And now here you are, all set and ready to start kindergarten next September. I am so proud of you."

"Thanks, Paddy." Harry beamed brightly, so very pleased with himself and glad that his adopted dad was happy too. "Would my Mummy and Daddy be proud of me too?"

"Harry, I bet you right now, your Mum and Dad are looking down on you from heaven and thinking what a wonderful, smart, big boy you are and feeling very, very proud of you indeed." Sirius nodded, kissing the little boy's temple.

"Oh good!" Harry laughed and tilted his face back, leaning back in Sirius's arms and looking up towards the blue sky, a smile so big all of his little white teeth showed. "I finished preschool Mummy! I finished preschool Daddy! I did it! I'm a big boy and a smart boy and a wonderful boy!"

"And the best big brother!" Lexie added, rising from her chair.

"And the best big brother!" Harry shouted to the heavens. "Hey Paddy! That cloud looks like deer!"

Sirius turned his head and glanced upwards to where Harry was pointing. The sky had been pretty cloudless all day, but now there was a fluffy cloud sitting right up above the playground. And wouldn't you know it, Harry was right. The cloud was very distinctly shaped like a stag and a doe.

"You know, Prongslet, I think your parents heard you."

…... "Birdy birdy birdy birdy birdy." Harry sang, his eyes aglow as he made the big sparrow dance about in front of the special see-through bed Rozilynn was in. It had been explained to him that the bird could not actually go into the bed with the baby since it was so big, but that it wouldn't hurt to play with the bird with her, or rather, bounce it nearby while singing as Lexie had suggested. Rozzie's head turned in the direction of Harry's voice, her eyes only slightly open. They were currently a shade of newborn baby blue, but was bound to change as she grew, or so said the Healers. Lexie had brown eyes as had both of her parents. Sirius, however, had silvery grey eyes that matched his father's and his mother had had blue eyes. So, Rozzie's eyes would either take after Sirius's mother and stay blue, or, more likely, darken to brown or grey. "Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!"

"Hey, Harry, I think she remembers your voice." Sirius grinned. He sat in a nearby chair in the Early Infants Observation Ward. It was like the Muggle NICU, only with magic. "See how she turns her head towards you?"

"Yeah?" Harry nodded, his eyes wide. His sister knew who he was!

"She's saying 'I know that sound.', probably because you talked to her quite a bit when she was still inside Lexie. She could hear you in there. She turns her head towards the voices she's used to hearing." Sirius explained, reaching out and placing a gentle hand on top of Harry's head. He was so glad Rozzie could have visitors again. The past month had been hell, waiting for her to get better, and then watching her get sick again. If it weren't for that, she'd be home by now. But that was what happened when your body was so small… underdeveloped for the world it had been thrust into too soon.

But this week, the fifth week of Rozzie's life was going well so far. She had fought off the respiratory illness, though she still needed a little help breathing and feeding. They had started giving her little bits of Muma-milk, as Harry had taken to calling it. He found it quite astounding that Lexie could make milk now for Rozzie just like the cows he had seen at the farm. Rozzie couldn't drink it yet without help though, so she was fed little bits of it at a time in conjunction with still having what the Healers called a BP attached to her hand. A Blood Potion, or IV in the Muggle world, was specially designed to get a person the things they needed in their system when they couldn't eat.

"Alright, it's about time we gave those little peepers a test." Healer Boot smiled, entering the room. She had been taking good care of Rozilynn for her stay here so far and Sirius was grateful to have an experienced Healer looking after his daughter's medical needs. "She's finally hit her thirty-two week gestational age, so we should be able to see some good reaction in her eyes now."

"Yay!" Harry laughed happily, moving to sit out of the way on the chair Sirius had been on. There were several other babies in the room with at least one parent sitting with them, but they did not seem annoyed by the little boy. In fact, they were very kind when Sirius had introduced him that morning and now smiles played at their lips. Joy was a good thing to see in a place like this… the little things counted.

Lexie was asleep in a rocking chair nearby Rozilynn's bassinet, a blanket thrown over her. It was very rare for her to even leave the room, unable to bring herself to be gone from her daughter for more than the time it took to go to the bathroom or get some food. Sirius normally brought her something to eat though, but he had to leave occasionally, Harry needed to at least have him for the evening hours. Harry was taking this like a trooper, knowing that his Paddy would always be there for dinner and to give him his bath and help tuck him in every night. It was similar to when he worked anyway, though, he was currently on paternity leave and spent his days at the hospital.

"Muma-Lexie, the lady's gonna see Rozilynn's eyes." Harry tugged at her sleeve and Lexie startled slightly awake. She looked down at him and smiled, reaching out her arms and pulling him into her lap and burying her face against his hair. She did not like being away from him so much, so it was always very nice when he was there and the time was typically spent holding him. He was, after all, her child too. It didn't matter that she had no legal hold of him yet, not until she and Sirius were officially married. She loved him and treated him like he was hers and that was what counted.

Healer Boot dimmed the lights in Rozzie's section of the room to make it more likely that she would open her eyes since she was not actually asleep at the moment. But after a couple of minutes she continued to keep her eyes only very slightly open.

Healer Boot pulled a small light from her pocket and shone it straight into Rozilynn's face. Rozzie remained still, not trying to pull away from the light at all, which, when most people had any light shone directly into their eyes, they would close them or turn their head away to escape the brightness. Healer Boot frowned and dug deep into her pocket. She pulled out a bright red cloth and moved it back and forth slowly in front of Rozilynn, watching her eyes very carefully. She kept trying and then attempted the light again before placing it away and looking up, rather somberly, to Sirius and Lexie.

"She's not reacting to visuals, which, unfortunately, at her age, we should be seeing at least a reaction to the light or training her eyes after the cloth." Healer Boot sighed and pulled out her wand. She gently set the tip of it against Rozzie's temple. After three minutes, she heaved a sad sounding sigh and shook her head. "She's not seeing anything at all. Unfortunately, it's safe to say that Rozilynn is probably blind."

Lexie's hands shot to cover her mouth and Sirius covered his face with his hands, falling into a crouch. Harry looked at them both in confusion, not quite understanding what was going on. Was something wrong with his sister?

"However…" Sirius looked up, rising to his feet and looking hopeful as Healer Boot spoke again. "Depending upon the cause of blindness, it may be possible to fix. There are certain eye problems even magic can't cure and those are typically the ones that require glasses. Firstly, it has to be caught early, which we've done. Because most magical eye corrections need to take place between the ages of one and a half and two and a half. At that point, the child is big enough to receive the potion required without worry of too many harsh side affects. However, if the eyes are allowed to developed over the age of two and a half years, give or take a few months, it becomes more and more difficult for the potion to correct since it only works on very young eyes. So once we determine the cause of your daughter's blindness, we may be able to start her on the potion when she hits the correct age, which in this case will be one year and eight and a half months, since technically speaking that will be her real one and a half year mark."

"What if it can't be corrected?" Lexie asked after a few moments, her face full of both fear and hope at the same time. She knew that if her daughter was incurably blind, then she would love her all the same and do the best she could for her… so long as she knew what that was.

"Well, people can thrive being blind, though there are some delays developmentally due to not being able to see what's going on around them. She would learn through showing her what you're doing physically, rather than a seeing child who can watch what you're doing. It would also require a good bit of sound and help to get her to start crawling or walking, and she might not respond the way a seeing child would. You see how she's gone completely still while we're talking? She's listening and doesn't want to miss a single word, even though she can't understand it yet." Healer Boot smiled, reaching out a hand and resting it down on Rozzie's stomach gently. "Her ears work just fine."

"Well, so long as she's healthy. Even if she stays blind all her life, as long as she's healthy and alive and happy…" Sirius smiled, reaching out and tickling one of Rozzie's hands until it opened and closed around his finger. "Right Harry? Healthy, alive, and happy?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded with a smile, knowing that his Padfoot felt a bit better now than he had a few minutes ago. Sirius reached out a hand and took Harry's in his as well, smiling.

"My son and my daughter. And to think less than a year ago I was still stuck in Azkaban." Sirius let out a laugh, his head thrown back as his being filled with joy. "And now I've got the most wonderful son, the most beautiful girl, and the most precious daughter. I am so lucky."

"You're lucky?" Harry asked, slipping off of Lexie's lap and still holding onto Sirius's hand. Sirius let go and lifted him up onto his hip with one arm. He smiled at him.

"The very luckiest."

…...

Harry was very excited when he woke up at the end of his first week of the summer holidays. Sirius and Lexie were bringing his baby home today! Rozzie had been deemed fit to leave the hospital as of yesterday. She had gone a full five days without getting sick and was positively thriving now. She had been taken off of the Blood Potion and was able to breathe on her own properly. She still had a bit of trouble nursing, but was getting better. Lexie was also bringing home a couple of bags of Blood Potion in case she relapsed. She was a fully trained Healer after all and would be able to stick her own daughter with a needle if she had to.

After getting dressed, Harry danced about his bedroom with his stuffed lion before heading downstairs with it and climbing into his usual seat at the kitchen table. Remus had already made him up some toast, simple, but Harry didn't care. He liked toast. "Moony, can I ride my broom today?"

"Sure, Harry." Remus nodded, ruffling his hair. 'Is Lion going with you?"

"Yeah. He told me he wanted to. He likes flying too." Harry nodded, propping Lion up against the jug of orange juice so that he wasn't just laying there on the table. He smiled, pretending to feed his toy bits of toast. The lion was in much more raggedy shape than he'd been nearly a year ago when Harry had first chosen him at the toy shop. His fur was flatter than it had been, his mane frizzy and wildly messy, and he had a jam stain on one paw. Oh but how Harry loved him best still. He loved all of his toys, but Lion was his absolute favorite.

"When are Paddy and Muma-Lexie bringing my baby?" Harry asked after he'd finished one slice of toast. Remus pondered for a moment.

"Well, they should be here around lunch time. So you have plenty of time to play this morning before they come."

"Okay." Harry grinned brightly, scarfed down the rest of his toast, grabbed his lion, and bolted upstairs. He went to his playroom and grabbed his toy broom.. Then he went to his room and grabbed a belt which he used to pin Lion to his chest. There, now he would be safe from falling off of the broom!

Harry raced back downstairs and out the back kitchen door before Remus could even shout for him to be careful. The man chuckled, peeking out the window at the little boy who had already mounted his broom. Harry was so much like James when he had that broom in his little hands it was uncanny. It was rather remarkable, the traits people got from their parents. Harry looked every bit like James but in so many ways his personality was so much more like Lily that sometimes Remus would find himself looking Harry in the eyes and seeing his mother's freckled face. Oh how he missed his friends, but at least they had Harry now. That little boy was the brightest light in an otherwise dark world for Remus and Sirius and Lexie.

Harry soared around the back yard, trying to get his broom to go higher, though it was set so it would never go higher than his toes could skim the grass. The wind whipped at his hair and he didn't even notice when Lexie came out onto the back patio to watch him, her arms folded across her chest. She gave him a few more minutes, loving the way his face lit up with joy as he circled the backyard, racing leaves or trying to turn himself around really fast.

"Harry! It's lunch time." Lexie called and Harry blinked, spinning around on his broom with such ease it was if he had been born knowing how to fly. A trait that most Potters possessed, Lexie could remember her mother saying years and years ago.

"Muma-Lexie!" Harry laughed, shooting across the yard and letting his feet hit the ground so that he dismounted his broom by dropping it and running forward, his arms out. He hugged Lexie and she scooped him up, kissing his cheeks.

"Hello, sweetheart. You look like you've had quite the morning."

"I've been flying since breakfast!" Harry announced proudly, grinning up at her toothily. She laughed and carried him inside to the cool kitchen, out of the heat of the day. It was hot out, but with the wind whipping around him, Harry hadn't noticed the heat. He'd been having way too much fun. His cheeks were pink from exhilaration and sun, Remus having forgotten to remind him to put on his hat or to get sunscreen on him.

"Is my baby here?" Harry asked as soon as Lexie had set him down. She nodded and Harry bolted from the kitchen to the living room where he found Sirius holding Rozzie, rocking her in the rocking chair they had placed next to the armchair. Harry beamed, walking over and reaching out a hand before looking up at Sirius. He hadn't been allowed to touch Rozzie very much at the hospital.

"It's fine, Harry. You can touch her all you like." Sirius laughed and Harry smiled, his hand finding Rozzie's cheek and stroking it as he had seen others do many times before.

"Hi Rozzie. It's Harry." Harry explained, knowing that she couldn't see him. She turned her head more in his direction, seeking him out with her ears instead of her eyes. Harry took one of her hands and played with it, moving it back and forth slowly.

"What're you doing, Prongslet?" Sirius smiled, curious.

"Dancing with Rozzie." Harry explained simply. Sirius smiled and propped Rozzie up more, sitting her in his lap so that she was leaned back against his front, her head supported by his stomach and not falling forward. Harry took her other hand and moved them back and forth.

" g…" Harry sing songed, rocking his head back and forth with each letter, moving Rozzie's hands to the same beat, but not roughly, never roughly. Gentle… always gentle… Like Sirius and Lexie and Remus had shown him. Rozzie let out a little noise, neither cry nor upset sounding. Rather, it seemed she enjoyed his song and movements. She couldn't see them, but she could feel and hear them.

"I'll get the camera…" Remus whispered after a moment of standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He grabbed it off of the mantle, the same bulky camera they had used to film Harry's ceremony earlier in the week. He turned it on and Harry kept singing, moving from his ABC's onto the Itsy Bitsy Spider, the whole time smiling while Rozzie mouth hung slightly open, eyes unfocused.

Harry liked Rozzie very much when she was in Lexie's tummy, at the hospital, and during that first afternoon when they enjoyed some good time together dancing. However, he did NOT like one bit of the first night she was home with them.

Harry clapped his hands over his ears as he heard the wailing crying for the second time that night. He had been tucked in at the usual time and fallen asleep. Half an hour later he'd been woken up when Rozzie started crying from where she was sleeping in the bassinet in Padfoot and Muma-Lexie's bedroom. She would be safer there for the time being, until she got a little older. Then she'd be moved to the crib in her bedroom.

Tired, but concerned, Harry had headed down the hallway to see what the matter was. He had found Lexie shushing the baby and rocking her gently as she carried her over to the dresser to have her diaper changed. Sirius had taken Harry back to bed, tucking him in and assuring him that even if he heard crying, everything was fine, to try to stay sleeping.

And now, about a little more than two hours later, Harry, very groggy from being woken from his sleep, was listening to the crying again. His Padfoot had said it was fine… Harry knew babies cried, they couldn't talk yet, but in his tired state he was wishing more and more that they didn't cry so much! He wanted to sleep.

Harry buried his head beneath his pillow and that muffled the sound a bit. He sighed, closing his eyes and trying to get back to sleep, but it was no use. He laid awake as the baby cried and cried and cried and he finally fell asleep.

The next morning, Harry was a very tired little boy. He had been woken up two more times during the night and by the time it was to get up for the day, he didn't feel ready to do so. It was a new feeling for him, not wanting to get up yet. He always loved mornings, breakfast and playing games.

"Harry?" Remus whispered, entering the room and sitting down on the end of the bed. Harry sat up, rubbing at his eyes.

"Rozzie cries loud." Harry stated simply, leaning forward and letting his head fall into Remus's lap. The man stroked his hair back and smiled.

"Yes, she does. Babies are like that, but it's alright. It won't last forever. She'll sleep all night just like everyone else once she's older. Padfoot and Lexie are still asleep too. They are very tired too, so I was thinking you and I could head over to the daycare together for the morning at least. Then you could come for the afternoon, when Padfoot and Lexie are more awake. You can sleep some more there, in the quiet, and see you friends."

"Okay." Harry nodded, liking the sounds of that. He did love spending time with his friends at the daycare, though none of them was nearly as fun as Ronnie. Thinking about his best friend, Harry had an idea that perked him up a bit. He sat up, smiling. "Maybe Ronnie can come over after lunch? Or I could go to the Burrow?"

"I'll write Mrs. Weasley this morning and see what she says." Remus smiled knowing how much Harry loved spending time with Ronnie. Those two boys got along like they'd been born to be best friends.

"Ask her how to calm a baby that cries but doesn't want anything you offer it." Sirius groaned, entering the room and flopping down to sit on the floor beside Harry's bed. He leaned over it, resting his head in Harry's lap, his eyes tired and baggy. "She'll know. She's had seven of them."

Harry patted Sirius's head, giggling. "Now I'm the daddy." He stated proudly. Sirius and Remus chuckled, unable to help it.

Sirius sat up and reached over the bed, pulling Harry down off it and into his lap, the red blanket catching and half coming with him. Sirius snuggled Harry close to his chest, kissing the top of his head. "You would be a good daddy, Harry. For now though, you are the very best son."

…...

Later that afternoon, after Harry had gotten some nice sleep in the older kids' nap room at the daycare, Mrs. Weasley came to pick him up, Ronnie racing ahead of her, excited to see his friend. Her other children were safely being looked after by her two oldest boys for a little while. Bill and Charlie were more than capable of keeping their younger siblings under control. When Mrs. Weasley had left, Percy had been reading contently in a chair in the sitting room. Fred and George were out in the garden tormenting the gnomes. Ginny had dragged Bill into having a tea party with her on a blanket in the garden and Charlie was lounging in the sun, one eye on the twins, one eye on the white puffy clouds floating through the sky.

"Harry!" Ronnie shouted happily, running to where Harry was on the merry-go-round on the daycare playground.

"Ronnie!" Harry beamed and the two little boys hugged as though they hadn't seen each other just two days beforehand. Mrs. Weasley smiled.

"Hello dear. How are you?"

"I'm good." Harry smiled brightly and Remus came over to say goodbye to him before he left.

Harry, Ronnie, and Mrs. Weasley walked the fifteen minutes from the daycare all the way to Harry's house. Instead of turning and going up over the little slope to the Burrow, they headed for the house. This confused Harry, since Mrs. Weasley had written back that she'd be glad to have him over at the Burrow for the afternoon.

"Why are we goin' to my house?"

"I promised Sirius and Lexie I would show them how to get your sister to stop crying so much." Mrs. Weasley smiled. "They're expecting us."

"Oh. That would be good. Rozzie cried all night long and I did not sleep." Harry explained, nodding knowingly to himself. Sirius met them at the door, looking a little less tired than he had earlier that morning. He gave Harry a snuggle, happy to see him as always and they went into the living room where Lexie was half passed out in the rocking chair, bawling baby in her lap.

"She's been fed. She's been burped. She's been changed and rocked and rocked and rocked but she just will not stop her crying." Lexie stated as soon as she caught sight of Mrs. Weasley. "I've sung to her and she just… I don't know what to do next. Maybe it's the environment. It went on for two hours last night. And then for the past hour or so."

"Sounds like she's hit her red face phase." Mrs. Weasley stated, reaching out and taking Rozzie from Lexie's lap. She didn't seem the least bit perturbed by the noise of the baby's crying and instead, gently rubbed at her back, bouncing and rocking her at the same time. "All babies go through it, though every one is different. Some cry a lot more than others."

"Red face phase? I don't remember reading anything about a red face phase…" Lexie sighed, placing her head in her hands, exhausted.

"Most people blame it on other things, mainly colic, but there are a few who know better. My mother, for example, knew better." Mrs. Weasley continued, still rocking and bouncing the baby. The crying didn't stop either. "All of mine did it to varying degrees, from the time they were about two weeks old to around their third month or so. Percy was the worst. He would cry for five hours from about three in the afternoon every day. He'd eat and then fall asleep around five, wake up at seven thirty and resume his crying until just after was awful, but he grew out of it, and so will your little one."

Lexie heaved a sigh, smiling a little bit. She wasn't glad that her baby was crying a lot, but she was at least happy she wasn't doing anything wrong and causing her crying. A phase… that's all it was.

"I'd try giving her a nice bath. That always helped with Ginny when she was going through it. Fred and George liked to be bounced across the kitchen table on their bottoms and Charlie was the easiest. All he needed was to have his tiny feet massaged and he calmed right down."

"What about me?" Ronnie asked curiously, tugging at his mother's hand. He and Harry had been listening intently to the adults with bored expressions on their faces for the most part. They wanted to go to the Burrow and play.

"You, my dear, liked to be all wrapped up in a blanket and laid on the grass beside the lavender patch." Mrs. Weasley smiled, stroking back her youngest son's hair from his forehead before digging into her pocket. "Speaking of which, I've brought some lavender baby oil along. It's not exceptionally strong, but it might help."

"We'll try anything at this point." Sirius stated, sitting down on the floor beside the chair. He held Rozzie while Mrs. Weasley gently placed a drop of the oil on each of her little red cheeks and rubbed it into her skin. Rozzie paused for a moment, her cries quieting simply out of pure curiosity at this new smell. Harry watched with interest, a smile breaking out on his face.

"She stopped." He beamed happily. His baby's eyes were drooping and she closed them, exhausted from all of her cry and eased by the scent of the oil.

"Merlin… it worked." Lexie looked near tears at this point herself and she hugged Mrs. Weasley tightly, so happy that her baby had stopped her crying for a bit at least. "Thank you so much, Molly. I didn't know what we were going to do."

"Your mum is good." Harry remarked to Ronnie and Ronnie laughed with a smile.

"I think cause she's got a lot a practice. Mummy, can we go swim now?"

"Of course we can." Mrs. Weasley smiled, pressing the bottle of oil into Lexie's hand. "You two get some rest while you can. Harry can come stay overnight if he'd like. I believe Arthur is planning on pitching a tent in the garden and have little camp fire tonight for the children, so he's more than welcome to join us."

"I think that's a lovely idea. What do you think, Harry?" Sirius asked with a smile.

"Oh yes!" Harry nodded excitedly. A camp out at Ronnie's house! Oh boy would that be fun!

"It's settled then. Go on upstairs and put your nighttime things in your sleeping bag. Don't forget your toothbrush."

"Yay!" Harry laughed and he and Ronnie shot upstairs, both of them talking excitedly about the camp out.

* * *

Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, once again! I've been really busy getting one of the children I look after finished up with her schooling for the year and she passed he assessment! Yay I have not failed as a homeschool teacher! Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, though it is, admittedly, not one of my best. The red face phase is more commonly known as the stage of purple crying, though I'm pretty sure that's a more recent name for it. Mrs. Weasley would know about it though, since she's got so much experience with children. Hopefully this chapter wasn't too baby-centric for you lot. Anyway, please let me know what you thought if you've got the time, I love hearing from you!

Kisses and best wishes,

S.Q.O.


	46. Camp-Out

Disclaimer: Yeah, not my characters.

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Forty-Six: Camp-Out_**

Harry, Ronnie, and Mrs. Weasley arrive back at the Burrow just in time to see Mr. Weasley placing large sheets across the clothes line in the garden. Harry and Ron stopped to watch while Mrs. Weasley went inside to start dinner. Mr. Weasley pinned one sheet to the line and then pulled outwards and to the ground, the sheet enlarged by magic so it would work on the high up line. When he had gotten the bottom of the sheet to the ground, Mr. Weasley pinned the corners and the center of the edge down with large rocks before going around the line and doing the same with the other side.

"A tent!" Harry laughed, understanding now what Mr. Weasley was doing with all of those sheets.

"Exactly." Mr. Weasley smiled down at the two boys as he threw another sheet over the top of the line and pinned it there. "We haven't got a real tent, but we can make do perfectly find with these sheet tents. It's not supposed to rain tonight anyway."

"And even if it does, you can make the rain not hit it, right Dad?" Fred and George came running across the grass. Both of their bare knees were covers in grass stains, their cheeks smudge with dirt, and their red hair tousled by the wind. They each had a broomstick over one shoulder, very old looking ones. Charlie and Bill weren't too far behind them carrying their own brooms.

"Of course I can." Mrs. Weasley nodded as he pinned down the next sheet and got started on another.

"You can fly?" Harry asked, eyeing the brooms Fred and George had. He knew they were the real adult kind of broomsticks he wasn't allowed to have yet, much bigger than his own little toy broomstick that didn't go very far off the ground or nearly as fast as a real broomstick.

"Yeah. Not nearly as good as Bill or Charlie's though. Mum says we can only use Dad's and our uncle's old brooms until we're older."

"They go higher and faster than our old toy broom, but not by much."

"But now we don't have to ride double."

"Cool!" Said Harry, looking quite excited. Maybe when he was seven he'd be allowed an older real broom as well.

Once the tents were all set up in a long row, the children were ushered inside by Mrs. Weasley to come put on their swimming things and be slathered from head to toe in sunscreen. Harry giggled as the cool sunscreen was squished onto his cheeks and Mrs. Weasley smiled.

The whole red headed family and Harry trooped out of the house and down a path of trodden grass through the garden to the little pond that sat about a quarter mile from the house. It was a nice little pond with fish and a bit of sand for playing in. Mr. Weasley had magicked up a floating wooden platform in the center of the pond but only the three oldest boys were allowed to go on it by themselves since they were excellent swimmers and the water was deep enough to dive into in the middle of the pond.

Harry, Ronnie, and Ginny were all water winged and allowed to go out as far as their toes could still touch but beyond that they had to have an adult with them. However, when you had two friends to play with, it wasn't hard to stay where the water wasn't over your head.

"I'm gonna get you!" Harry shouted, chasing after Ginny through the ankle deep bit of water. The little red head squealed delightedly, her bare feet splashing through the water as she ran, sending up bits of water that hit her waist and got her mother wet as well, not at Mrs. Weasley minded too much. It was hot out after all and they were supposed to be getting wet. She laughed, tilting the brim of her large sunhat up to watch them easier. It was such a joy, seeing children so happy, their laughter pealing high and full of delight as they ran about splashing one another.

"Watch this! Watch this!" Ronnie shouted from where he stood on the dock. He waved and Harry and Ginny turned to look over at him curiously. Ronnie took off running along the dock and jumped from the end, splashing into the four feet of water there with his knee4s tucked up against his chest. His toes skimmed the bottom for a moment before his red hair broke the surface of the water again. Harry and Ginny cheered as Ronnie doggy paddled back towards them and the safety of the sand.

"That was so cool, Ronnie!" Harry beamed, quite impressed with his best friend for having the guts to jump into the 'deep' bit of water all the way at the end of the dock. Ronnie puffed his chest out as proudly as any other five year old who had just been showing off. "Can I try that too, Mrs. Weasley?"

"Well…" Mrs. Weasley pondered it for a moment. She knew Harry wasn't yet as good a swimmer as Ronnie was but the water wasn't too deep at the end of the dock. "Well, I suppose. But let me get in so that I can help you quickly if you need it."

"Yay!" Harry whooped and ran towards the dock, Ronnie and Ginny hot on his heels.

Mrs. Weasley rose from her chair and entered the water, wading in until she had reached close enough to the end of the dock that she could grab Harry if he needed help but far enough that he wouldn't hit her with his jumping. "Alright, you can go now."

"Woohoo!" Harry imitated Ronnie, running down the dock. He flung himself off of the end like he'd hit a spring board, his small bare feet sending him up into the air, higher and higher. Mrs. Weasley watched intently, her stomach flipping with fear for a moment when Harry was ten feet up. But then he was coming down, slower than he would have if he'd been falling naturally, but he wasn't. There was underage magic involved here. He was going to hit the water at just the right speed.

Harry's bottom broke through first quickly followed by the rest of him as he was plunged beneath the surface of the water. His water wings caught him up just as his butt hit the sandy bottom and began towing him upwards to the surface. He gasped as his head met dry air, his cheeks pink with the rush of adrenaline. He coughed a little bit and then, beaming, raised his arms in the air in victory. "I did it! I did it!"

"Woohoo, Harry!"

"Well done, Harry!" Mrs. Weasley beamed too, so glad he had achieved something so big for a four year old. It took a lot of nerve to be so small and jump into water that was over your head.

"Me too, Mummy! Me too!" Ginny squealed, her voice echoing through the brilliant blue summer sky.

"Ginny! No, you're too..." Mrs. Weasley watched as her daughter raced across the rock, red hair flying out like a flag behind her. Ginny leaped from the end of the dock and Mrs. Weasley moved forward, ready to snatch her up out of the water. She needn't be so worried though. Ginny came bobbing to the surface a moment later, full of fire and glee. She continued to float upwards, giggling until she was hovering just above the water. She leaned herself forward, using her body weight to move through the air and catch her arms safely around her mother's neck just as her hovering stopped and her lower body crashed back down into the pond.

"I did its too, Mummy! I did its too!"

"Yes you did. You also nearly gave me a heart attack."

Ginny laughed, burying her little cheek tightly against her mother's.

…...

"…and he took out his knife, shoved it into her chest, and took out her heart!"

Ginny screamed, curled up in her father's lap, as Fred and George took turns telling the scariest story they knew about this guy who had locked his heart in a box til it turned hairy and beastly and no longer human.

""Then he opened his own chest and tried to shove the lady's heart into his own empty one…"

"Okay, okay, I think that's enough of that one boys." Mr. Weasley said as he rocked the shuddering Ginny gently in his lap. The Warlock's Hairy Heart was too much for a three year old.

Harry's eyes were wide in the firelight as they sat in a circle around the campfire Mr. Weasley had conjured. It was all sorts of different colors, a rainbow of flames that flickered brilliantly in the darkening garden.

"Who wants a marshmallow?"

"Oh! Me me!" Ronnie jumped up and took one of the sticks Mrs. Weasley was handing out. Each stick had a marshmallow at the end. Confused for a second, Harry watched as Ronnie held the marshmallowed stick out over the fire. He did the same with his.

The end of Harry's marshmallow suddenly became engulfed in flames and he let out a yelp, dropping his stick in shock.

"Oh no!" Ronnie cried out, looking down at the part of the fire where Harry's marshmallow had just fallen. "Mum! Mum!"

"It's alright dear. Here we are." Mrs. Weasley tossed Harry's stick into the fire since the end was now all covered in goop and ash. She grabbed a new one and impaled a marshmallow upon it, handing it to Harry. "Hold it out of the flames… yes, just like that."

Harry smiled, glad she hadn't been mad that he'd dropped his stick and marshmallow. He really hadn't been expecting it to catch on fire like that!

This time, Harry paid even better attention to his marshmallow than anyone else did. He held it above the flames, but not in them or too close that it would catch on fire. When Ronnie checked his, Harry did the same, both boys beaming and holding out their sticks to show their lovely browned marshmallows with absolute pride. It took quite a lot of effort to be patient enough to cook a good marshmallow and not burn it.

"Here we are then." Mr. Weasley smiled having taken over the marshmallow duties while Mrs. Weasley had taken over helping Ginny with her own marshmallow. The little girl didn't yet have the ability to wait for her marshmallow to cook properly and kept burning them. Bill was eating the burnt ones, assuring her that he loved them that way.

Harry watched as Mr. Weasley took his stick and gently slid his marshmallow down onto a square of graham cracker and chocolate. Mr. Weasley placed another graham cracker down upon the marshmallow, squishing it until it was the most wonderful looking concoction Harry had ever witnessed being created after treacle tarts and root beer floats.

"What is it?"

"A s'more." Ronnie laughed as Mr. Weasley helped him make his next. "Cause once you have a s'more, you always want s'more, s'more, s'more!"

Harry laughed and bit into his treat, the sides of his mouth getting sticky with marshmallow and slightly melted chocolate. Oh, but how good it was! Ronnie was right. Once you have one s'more, you wanted more!

After about three s'mores and two burnt marshmallows that Harry had decided he liked after all, it was getting to be pretty late for the younger members of the clan. Ginny was nodding off in her father's lap. Mrs. Weasley had gone inside to get some wash clothes to clean little faces. Bill and Charlie was talking about some game called Gobstones while Fred and George argued over who had redder hair.

"Alright, it's about time for everyone to be getting to bed." Mrs. Weasley stated as she came back out toting along a pitcher of warm water, some soap, and several towels. The older boys washed off their own faces and hands, but the three younger kids got extra help. Harry and Ronnie could have washed their own hands, but more than likely they would have still been quite sticky when they finished anyway.

Once everyone was cleaned up, sleeping bags were laid out, potty runs had been made, and pajamas put on, Harry and Ronnie climbed into their sleeping bags right next to one another towards the center of the long sheet tent. Fred, George and Mr. Weasley lay to their left while Ginny, Bill, and Charlie lay to their right. Mrs. Weasley and Percy had gone inside for the night, Mrs. Weasley wanting to take a nice, long bath, and Percy stating he didn't quite think sleeping outdoors when he had a perfectly good bed inside sounded like the best idea.

Harry smiled, liking being sandwiched between Ronnie and Ginny. He was kind of sad that Hermione and Luna and Neville weren't here as well. He was sure they would have had a good time camping out. Well, so long as they had fairies in jars so that Neville didn't feel scared. He was glad, too, that Mr. Weasley and Charlie were sleeping at either end of the tent, that way if any beasties came to get them, they would be ready for them.

Feeling safe and happy with the smells of two of his favorite friends, the grass beneath him, and the night air flowing peacefully through along through the ends of the tent that had been propped open, Harry fell asleep.

…...

When Harry got home the next afternoon, he was quite surprised to find that the house was quiet. Remus was at the daycare like usual and Sirius and Lexie were both in the kitchen nursing mugs of coffee that had long since gone cold.

"Harry!" Sirius smiled, reaching out for the little boy. "How was your camp out?"

"Oh Paddy!" Harry laughed, hugging him around one leg. "It was so cool! We went swimming and told scary stories and made s'mores, and I dropped my first marshmallow in the fire, but that was ok cause it was already on fire and then we went to sleep and it was so much fun cause sleeping outside is so cool!"

"Wow Harry, that sounds like such a fun time. Thanks for bringing him home, Bill. And tell your parents we really appreciate them having Harry over last night."

"No problem." Bill smiled, bid Harry good bye and headed back out.

"Well, Harry, since you enjoyed sleeping outside so much, I'm thinking maybe we should do it more often. Would you like that?"

"Oh yes!" Harry nodded excitedly, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "Maybe we could even sleep in my tree house!"

"Maybe!" Sirius laughed and kissed his little boy's head. He had missed having him around last night, but he and Lexie had definitely needed the time to deal with Rozzie and try and help her cry a bit less.

"Is Rozzie sleeping?" Harry asked after a minute. He had noticed that his baby was not in the room and normally when she wasn't around, that meant she was sleeping somewhere nearby.

"Yep. We found the magic way to calm her down too. I'll show you it later, but for now, how about we start on an early dinner?"

"Okay." Harry nodded. He loved spending time at the Burrow, but boy did he love being home with his family.

…...

It turned out that the absolute best way to calm a crying baby who didn't need anything but couldn't stop crying was to give her a bath in warm water containing lavender baby oil, swaddle her tightly in a blanket washed in lemon infused water, and rock her while her brother sang.

It had taken a lot of guessing to get it right. Lexie had decided to bathe her with the oil instead of just rubbing it on her cheeks so that the smell was also associated with the warmth of the water. The smell of lavender would mean bath time to the baby who couldn't see what was coming. After looking through a book of herbs for more calming remedies, Sirius had come across both lavender and lemon for soothing anxiety and instilling a sense of ease. So they washed Rozzie's favorite soft blanket with lemon water and had it dry by the time her bath was done.

However, it was Harry who had randomly discovered the last bit of the magic trick to getting his baby sister to calm down.

"Here, rub very gently now, just like that." Sirius smiled, watching as Harry ran his hand along the top of Rozzie's head, rubbing in both the water and oil. It smelt good and felt good on his hand. Rozzie seemed to like it too because she wasn't crying. In fact, she was being completely still, letting her little body feel the water and smell the lavender around her while she listened to her father and brother's voices.

"Alright. I think she's done." Sirius said after a little more massaging of Rozzie's tiny body. He lifted her gently out of the baby tub and laid her down on a towel which he wrapped about her to her dried off. Then he would replace her diaper and pajamas.

Lexie came out of the laundry room holding the lemon blanket. It was a white and pink patchwork quilt dotted with tiny roses, very light blue curling stems, and trimmed with cotton lace. The inside was made of the soft pale yellow fabric woven out of the leftovers of puffskein haircuts. It was quite commonly used for babies in the wizarding world since it was gentle and hypoallergenic, not to mention softer than milkweed fluff.

Once Rozzie was swaddled up tightly in the blanket, Sirius carried her into the living room and sat down in the rocking chair, rocking her back and forth gently while Harry sat down on the rocking stool in front of him. After watching for a few minutes, Rozzie began to fuss.

"A B C D…." Harry began to sing song like he had when she had first come home. The fussing stopped and Rozzie went still, her head shifting as she listened intently.

And so became the bedtime routine. Every night after dinner, when Rozzie began to cry even though they'd already tried everything else under the moon, she would be given a bath, wrapped in her blanket, and then rocked while Harry sang to her until she fell asleep. She would then be tucked safely into her bassinet in Sirius and Lexie's room.

Once Rozzie was asleep, it was Harry's turn for a bath, a story, and bed. Sirius even put a special spell around his and Lexie's room so that Rozzie's cries wouldn't bother Harry while he slept.

Though sometimes it was in the tree house

* * *

So, I am a failure. It has taken me four months to finish this one because I simply have been too busy to do so. Summer was nuts, my job was super busy with the childrens, and then, then, I moved. With my boyfriend. And I have had the most terrible set up for my computer up until today. Now, all of you who write to know that you need the right environment to do so. Well, I finally fixed mine to something less crazy that won't murder my knees. Now I just need to get over the heebie jeebies of having someone watching me while I write. Also, I think it's about time to say that this particular fic is nearing it's end, as sad as that is. I plan on stopping it with Harry's birthday. A full year of him being with Sirius.

And the same day I post that chapter will be the very...

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Same day I post the first chapter to the second installment. :D

Bahahahaha, almost had you there! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it's really not one of the best nor very long. Please let me know what you thought if you feel like it or have the time! Also, I would love to hear your thoughts or ideas for the second installment which is yet to the titled. (I suck at titles, though I have a few picked out.) As always, I appreciate every single one of you!

Love as always,

S.Q.O. who really needs to go buy toilet paper now. Ugh, being a grown up is weird.


	47. Wedding

Disclaimer: I am totally not JK Rowling who is super mega awesome and therefore I do not own any of these characters.

**His Boy**

**_Chapter Forty-Seven: Wedding_**

"Bum bum bum bum." Harry was in full excitement mode as he skipped up and down the hallway between the stairs and Remus's bedroom. He spun in a circle, dancing boldly with Lion and then flopping down in a chair in the alcove. He bounced up and down a few times, unable to contain himself.

Tomorrow Sirius and Lexie were getting married.

Tomorrow Lexie was signing adoption papers.

Tomorrow Harry would officially, have a pair of parents again. A dad and a mum who were all his forever and ever.

It was something any little boy who had never really known his own parents except for the stories he was told about them could wish for. After all, Sirius and Lexie were the closest thing he had to his true parents. And Remus of course who was like a second dad. So, in a way, Harry was a pretty lucky kid. He had three parents instead of just two!

Bouncing down the hallway again, Harry finally heard the front door open and shut. He raced over to the banister where he could see down into the first floor from the third, the second floor jutting out just a little bit beneath it, but not much. It was a pretty perfect spot to watch things when you didn't want to be seen, and right now, Harry was hiding.

Actually, Remus had merely convinced him he should go play at being a spy up on the third floor while they worked on setting up for the wedding in the back yard. It was going to be a wondrous event with lots of family and friends in attendance, but in order to get it ready, there was a lot of work to do.

The large back garden was being transformed into an enchanting fairy garden. Chairs were being set up and flowers delivered. And since all of the adults were busy setting things up, Harry had been given the completely difficult task of keeping himself occupied while also being stuck indoors at least until tomorrow. He wasn't allowed out in the back garden for any reason short of an emergency at this point. Heck, he wasn't even allowed on the first floor right now.

Harry lay down on his stomach, peering through the bars as a man in white robes carried a bunch of flowers into the house. He and Sirius disappeared from view and the front door closed. Harry heaved a sigh. Being a spy had been fun at first, but after the long stream of flowers and chairs, and whatever else it was people needed for weddings coming through the door, he had grown bored. He didn't have anyone to play with but his toys at the moment. Sirius and Remus were both working on setting things up and Lexie and Rozzie were taking a much needed afternoon nap.

What was a four almost five year old supposed to do in such trying circumstances?

Deciding he was quite done with playing at being a spy since there was absolutely nothing interesting about spying anymore, Harry made his way down to the second floor of the house and into his playroom. He shut the door and then turned on his train that ran along the wall, liking to watch it.

After a little bit of watching, Harry decided he was going to race his train. So he hopped onto his toy train with the pedals and began pedaling. Round and round he went, going as fast as he could, keeping up with his train and laughing happily as he finally passed it by. Boy he sure was fast if he could beat his train!

Harry spent the next half hour or so racing his train set on different speeds. Sometimes it would rocket around the room and he couldn't catch it. Other times it would be as slow as a snail. One time he even had it at a dead stop, but that wasn't nearly as fun as racing it when they were going about the same speed.

When Harry had grown tired of racing his train, he turned his attention to his toy broom which he was not allowed to ride in the house. It was his absolute favorite toy though… and he wasn't allowed outside in the back yard today so there was no way he could ride it. Heaving a sigh, he made his way over to his toy box instead, pulling out dinosaurs and blocks and his wooden train that Sirius had gotten him on the very first day that had really been together. He still enjoyed playing with it fairly frequently but he had other toys he enjoyed now too.

"Rawr! I'm gonna get you T-Rex!" Harry stomped, pushing his train along the floor and ramming it into his plastic t-rex which fell over from the impact. Harry laughed and ran over several of his other dinosaurs before the dinosaurs turned on the train and began attacking it back. It was quite the battle. In the end though, the train won because Harry liked it better than his dinosaurs. However, his eyes kept straying over to his toy broomstick…

By the time Sirius came upstairs to tell Harry it was time to come down for dinner, the playroom was an absolute mess. Toys were strewn everywhere. Blocks, animals, dinosaurs, cars… you name it, it was on the floor. It looked like Harry's toy box and shelves had thrown up all of their contents just to appease their tiny master. And sitting right in the middle of the mess was a tiny black hair boy, his face covered in tears as he clutched at two wooden sticks that looked like they had once been one together.

Sirius instantly knew what those two pieces of wood had been and exactly why Harry would be crying and trying to stick them back together.

"Prongslet?"

Harry jumped, looking up at Padfoot, his face red and streaked with tears while more continued to flow down his little face, the perfect image of heartbreak. He had a lovely bump on his forehead too, right next to his lightening bolt scar.

"What happened?"

"I… I…" Harry hiccupped and dropped the pieces of his toy broomstick, falling forward and burying his face against a stuffed turtle that usually lived on one of the wall's built in bookcases.

Sirius stepped over the heaps of toys and lifted Harry up off of the floor and carried him over to the window seat where he sat down, little boy in his lap. "Were you riding on your toy broom inside?"

Harry hesitated and then he nodded. Padfoot had always told him never to lie, even if he thought he'd get in trouble for it. Sirius had explained that it was better to admit when you'd done something wrong than to lie and lose the trust of the person you'd lied to. Harry didn't want to lose Sirius's trust… though he wasn't so sure he wanted to get into trouble either.

"And what happened?"

"B-broke it." Harry cried out, a fresh wave of tears plummeting downwards from his eyeballs.

"How'd that happen?"

"W-wall." Harry said, pointing over at the wall right next to the now open door where there was a very obvious little round hole. Sirius could take it from there. Harry must have been going too fast around the room and run into the wall before he could turn properly. The broom would have hit the wall, Harry would have been bounced forward, thus hitting his forehead on the wall as well. Lodged in the wall, the force of Harry bouncing back off of the wall and onto the broom would have easily snapped the handle.

The little boy's bottom wouldn't be feeling any better than his head right now if Sirius guess it right.

"So, your broom broke because you were riding inside, which, as we both know, is against the rules."

Harry gulped. There was that rule he had been dreading hearing. Oh he knew he wasn't supposed to ride his broom inside! But he hadn't been able to help it. The day had been so long and boring and he hadn't been able to go outside at all. He usually went outside every morning after breakfast to ride his broom. "Am I getting a time out?"

"Well, your broom is broken, I think that's probably punishment enough, don't you?" Sirius asked. He knew exactly how much Harry loved his broomstick… it broke his heart to see Harry so down trodden, but he'd deliberately gone against a rule when he knew he wasn't supposed to. He needed to be disciplined appropriately.

Harry nodded. He buried his face against Sirius's shoulder, but the older man still heard a fairly clear. "Can you fix it?" come out of the little boy's mouth.

"Nope. I can't, it's not one of those things that can be fixed easily without the proper spells, and unfortunately, I'm no broom maker. I could mend it, but it won't ever fly again."

Harry cried harder, his shoulder shaking.

"Alright mate. Now it's dinner time, but once we're finished, you need to clean this room up until it's nice and spiffy, understood?"

"Yes, Paddy." Harry nodded, feeling really badly now. He had broken his broom and now he had to clean up all of his toys… geez, today was the worst. "Can… Can I've a new broom?"

"We'll see. Maybe for your birthday, but not this week."

Harry gulped, feeling his heart sink lower this time. He knew he'd messed up big time if his Paddy wasn't even willing to see about getting him a new broom for a whole week!

Sirius knew he was being a bit harsh. He watched Harry's defeated little being make it's way down the stairs and along towards the kitchen. He felt bad, but he couldn't always be the good guy who let Harry do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted to otherwise he'd never learn how to be a good person when he grew up. If he gave Harry a new broom right after he'd broken the one he'd already had or any time he did something that involved a broken rule, the kid would never learn to be responsible and would take things for granted.

Harry ate his dinner in solemnity, pushing his ham around on his plate like a very sad little duckling, but there was nothing anyone could do to cheer him up. Oh they tried, but nothing worked. He was taking this whole broom thing very hard, but then again, he had to be punished somehow. Going a week without a broom because he had broken his by disobeying the rules seemed like a perfectly logical answer. And actually, it gave Sirius a pretty good idea on what to get Harry for his birthday which was fast approaching in only two weeks time.

After dinner, Harry picked up his playroom instead of helping give Rozzie a bath which had become one of his favorite parts of the bedtime routine. He liked the way her hair felt, dark against her still kind of pink scalp. And how calm she got, seeming to really like it when he rubbed the water/oil mixture into her skin gently. However, he did finish cleaning in time to sing to her. He was turning out to be a better big brother than the adults had expected him to be. Maybe it was because he knew what it felt like to feel unloved in your own home, or because he took after Lily quite a bit personality wise, or because he'd been prepped for the baby or how he hadn't been able to spend much time with her when she'd been in the hospital. Whatever the reason, Harry doted upon 'his' baby. Oh, he hated it when she was crying and sometimes he wanted the adults to pay attention to him when they were busy with her and he got jealous, but when bedtime rolled around, he was the sweetest little boy on the planet.

"R is for Rozilynn R-O-Z-I-L-Y-N-N." Harry sang, dancing back and forth while Rozzie sat in Sirius's lap, her tiny hands in Harry's. "S is for silly. S-I-L-L-Y…" Remus had come up with the new song though. He said it was never to early to learn how to spell things, nor to practice Harry's spelling while school was out for the summer.

Rozzie let out a little happy sigh of contentment, her eyes shutting as she was lulled to sleep as she always was… Wrapped tightly in a blanket her mother had washed, sitting in her father's lap, and being sung to by her brother. She may have been born early and blind, but she'd also been born into a family that loved her to the end of the universe and back again.

Harry always liked this part the best, where Rozzie was happy enough to go to sleep instead of crying. He liked her best when she wasn't crying or needing anything from anyone really. He let go of her hands and Sirius handed her off to Lexie who carried her upstairs.

Sirius scooped up Harry to get him into his bath. Remus cleaned up the dinner plates and headed up the stairs to get the book he and Harry were currently reading at bedtime.

Aside from a broken broom, it wasn't too bad of a day after all.

…...

Harry woke at the usual time the next morning to a bright sunny day full of birds chirping. He beamed, staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom, painted with stars enchanted to really glow in the dark. Lexie had done that one.

Today was the day… the wonderful day that his family became officially his. It was very exciting.

Knowing that he'd just have to change into his suit later, Harry didn't bother getting dressed, preferring his pajamas anyway. They were his cool ones with the trains on them, though they were getting to be a bit small on him, much more worn out than they had been when he'd first gotten them.

He made his way downstairs to the kitchen and found that it was empty. Now why would that be? Normally when he got downstairs someone was cooking breakfast for him and everyone else. Where could they be?

Upon further investigation, Harry found himself peering into Sirius and Lexie's bedroom. Their bed was empty as was Rozzie's bassinet that sat flush up against the bed on Lexie's side.

Frowning, Harry padded his way upstairs to Moony's room. It was empty of life as well. Where could everyone possibly be? This was very weird.

Deciding maybe they were downstairs and he had missed them somehow, Harry headed back down and checked the kitchen again. There was still no one here. There wasn't even any coffee brewing in the pot. Where were they?!

Harry was beginning to get a little bit scared now that he was having so much trouble finding people. Where was his Padfoot? His Moony? His Muma-Lexie and Rozzie? How could a house full of people be there one night and not there in the next morning without taking one of their children with them?

Perhaps… Harry thought… Perhaps they had decided they didn't want him after all. Perhaps Sirius had decided he only wanted one kid and had picked Rozzie since she was still a baby and needed a lot more help than Harry did. She couldn't even eat more than milk yet.

Just as he was beginning to cry and feeling so very lost, the back door opened and Remus popped his head in. "Morning Harry! We're having breakfast outside today."

Harry blinked in shock. Breakfast outside? They'd never done that before.

"I thought you left me." Harry stated as he came out through the back door and climbed up into Remus's lap, snuggling his face against his Moony's chest. "I thought you were all gone!"

"Oh goodness no Harry." Sirius laughed, reaching out a hand to ruffle Harry's hair affectionately. "We'd never go anywhere without you or without you knowing. It's just such a beautiful day out, isn't it?"

"Mhm!' Harry nodded with a smile and then looked around again. "Where's Muma-Lexie and Rozzie?"

"They're hiding out in the guest room this morning. It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride the night before the wedding you know."

"But you did see Muma-Lexie last night!" Harry exclaimed worriedly. Wouldn't they have bad luck now?

"Oh, well, that doesn't really count. It's more like… after nine o'clock at night until the wedding that we can't see each other or it'll be bad luck."

"Oh!" Harry sighed with relief, glad that there wouldn't be any bad luck after all. He wanted this day to go well. It was pretty important after all.

After breakfast, the men cleared the outside table they'd been eating out. A portion of the back garden was currently taken up by chairs and a large carved wooden structure that Sirius and Lexie would be married beneath. Harry hadn't seen any of it yet.

There were flowers everywhere. It looked pretty good to him. He liked flowers… they were pretty. Which is something little boys can admit that most men can't.

After everything was clean, they all headed inside to get ready for the big day that would begin in a couple of hours. The wedding was specifically planned around a particular baby's morning naptime so that there would be a minimum of interruptions during which she would need feeding as opposed to diaper changing, which was something Remus could handle quite well.

…...

Harry tugged at his Snitch shaped tie, glad to be wearing it instead of the one he had to wear to school. It was much less tight and cooler than his school tie.

People were already arriving as Harry was getting dressed, so he'd had to go downstairs to get help from Sirius with his bow tie. He was quite pleased now though, as he stood in the dining room watching through the window as people took their seats. He was supposed to stay in here so that he could walk down the aisle carrying the wedding rings on a pillow. He wasn't sure why he was carrying rings on a pillow or why Lexie even needed a second ring since she already had her engagement ring, but sometimes there was no use in questioning the ways of the grown ups.

"Harry!" Luna came bounding up to him from the kitchen. She wore a bright yellow dress the color of egg yolks and a brilliant red fez on top of her head. Spinning in a circle Harry saw she was also wearing a giant sun flower on the front of her dress.

"Hi Luna!" He exclaimed brightly, happy to see her. It had been a while since he'd been able to properly play with his Luna-sissy. Not that he hadn't wanted to, but because it had been such a busy summer already and Luna had been away with her father hunting down something called Crumple Horned Snorkacks. "I like your hat."

"It's a fez!" Luna said delightedly clapping her hands together. "I wear a fez now, fezzes are cool! I like your bow tie!"

"Bowties are cool." Harry laughed back, clapping his hands too. They both jumped about a bit before Xeno came to retrieve Luna so they could take their seats. The wedding was starting soon.

"Alright Harry, it's time. Remember, just like we practiced." Remus was suddenly saying. And then there was music play and Harry walked out the kitchen door holding the blue satin pillow with the silver rings on it glinting in the sun. He felt the soft breeze whip at his hair and he gulped, walking down the long aisle of grass between the chairs full of people. He could see the Weasleys sitting next to the Lovegoods and there was Neville with his grandmother. He didn't see Hermione… she and her parents were away in France for the summer and wouldn't be back until the middle of August. But a lot of the people he saw didn't look all to familiar. There were a few more who did, like Hagrid, but a lot of these people were complete strangers.

Harry gulped and held his head high, taking his steps like he'd been show. Right foot. Together. Left foot. Together. Right foot. Together… repeat. He had to go slow so as not to screw up the tempo of everyone else walking in time to the music.

Now, normally it would have been the bride's maids, and then Harry, but because he was feeling a little nervous about the whole thing, he was going first with Remus and Sirius right behind him, their arms link in brothership while Sirius carried his daughter.

It was with absolute relief that Harry arrived at the carved wooden altar. He turned around in his spot and watched as Sirius and Remus came up the aisle and took their places beside Harry, Sirius handing Rozzie off to Remus. She wore her own pretty little blue dress covered in golden snitches so she matched Harry and which was quite the change from the typical pajamas she was normally rocking out in. After Remus and Sirius came Lexie's bride's maids, two ladies in green dresses that Harry didn't recognize.

Next came Ginny, decked out in an adorable mint green dress that flounced about her as she flung pale pink flower petals with every step. Harry grinned. Ginny looked really pretty, especially her hair, but then, Harry had always thought Ginny looked pretty. When you were four going on five you could admit to things like that.

And then, looking ever so beautiful… Lexie. She wore a very simple white cotton gown that flowed down to the grass and trailed along behind her. There were bits of lace on it in places and her headpiece consisted of a simple ring of flowers and white ribbons flowing prettily down her wavy milk chocolate hair. However, it was neither the dress or her hair that made Lexie so pretty right then… but her smile. She was grinning so widely that she looked positively radiant, outshining the man on her arm who was leading her down the aisle. Harry had never met him before either, though he knew the man was Lexie's brother.

Lexie finally reached the end of the aisle, taking her place next to Sirius and her bride's maids. The ceremony began…

It went on and on, until Harry was ready to sit down and exclaim that he was bored. Really? How long was it going to take for the short man with flyaway hair to just tell them they were married already? It was never this arduous when he played wedding with Ginny. Even Rozzie seemed to be getting restless since she started crying. Remus bounced her and took her inside to change her diaper. However, they returned before the good part.

"Do you Sirius, take Alexandria to be your wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for as long as you both shall live?"

Harry perked up. He knew this part of the wedding.

"I do." Sirius stated, reaching out and taking Lexie's hand in his with a smile on his face that said he was the luckiest guy alive.

"And do you Alexandria take Sirius to be your husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for as long as you both shall live?"

Lexie smile too, looking like she was between laughing and crying all at once. "I do."

"The rings please then."

Harry stepped forward with his pillow, walking over to stand before Sirius and Lexie. Sirius took Lexie's ring and Lexie took Sirius's. They exchanged them, putting them on one another's hands as Harry returned to his spot by Remus.

"And thus, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The little man stated boldly.

Sirius laughed and swooped upon Lexie, kissing her full on the mouth to the cheers and whoops of their guests.

"But wait, there's more!" The little man announced once everyone had settled down a bit. "If we could have the ring bearer return to the altar."

Harry didn't remember this part of the rehearsal they had done that morning when he'd still been in his pajamas and they'd only had half of their wedding procession. Nervous, he walked back over to the altar, and Sirius scooped him up, resting him on his hip. The short man with the funny hair continued.

"It is with great pride that today we not only celebrate the coming together as a couple, but also the coming together as a family. This morning Alexandria signed the papers and is now, officially, recognized by both the wizarding and Muggle worlds as the adoptive mother to Sirius's son, Harry."

Harry wasn't quite sure what all those bigger words meant, but the ones that clicked in his head were 'Alexandria', 'mother', and 'Harry.'

His little body bubbling with joy at his family being an official family, Harry shot himself forward out of Sirius's arms and into Lexie's. She caught him up as she had the first them they'd met, holding him tightly and burying her face in his hair. This little boy was hers now too. Oh, he would always belong to Lily and James, but being able to raise him for them, being able to be called his mother since his real one could not be there… there was something remarkably special about that. Sirius and Lexie could never really replace James and Lily, but they could make sure their son was raised properly and with the love he deserved.

"It is also with great pride…" Sirius began. "That we bestow the name of 'godfather' of our daughter Rozilynn, to my best man, Remus Lupin."

There was more clapping, more whooping. Everyone was so happy today.

…...

Cake.

Harry stared up at the ginormous blue masterpiece like it was the most wonderful thing he had ever seen in his entire little life of living on this planet. He was tempted to reach a hand out… just to get a little taste of the frosting… but then Remus caught him and swooped him up from the grass.

"Whatcha doing, Harry?"

"Moony, when are we gonna eat cake?" Harry asked, craning his neck around to look back at the delicious mound of perfection as Remus carried him away from it and towards one of the many tables that had been magically sprung up after the wedding ceremony.

Remus laughed at Harry's one track mind. He had been asking about the cake since he had laid eyes on it yesterday. He didn't ask about it constantly, but every now and then he'd mention it, like he was worried it would always just be sitting around not being eaten when it so obviously needed to be eaten.

"Sirius and Lexie are going to have their first dance, and then after everyone has done a bit of dancing and had a bit of lunch, then there will be cake."

"Aw." Harry pouted. He really wanted that cake now.

The center of the area the chairs had been in before had now been transformed into a dance floor. Remus carried Harry over to it where they had a good view of Sirius and Lexie getting ready to have their first dance. Rozzie was contently being rocked by Mrs. Weasley.

"I give you, Sirius and Alexandria Black!" Someone stated from off to the side of the dance floor. Harry watched with rapt attention as Sirius took Lexie in his arms and they began to glide about the dance floor. They looked so happy…

Harry squirmed, unable to help himself. Remus let him down and before he could grab hold of him again, Harry shot off across the dance floor, heading straight for Sirius and Lexie. He grabbed hold of Sirius's leg.

Padfoot looked down in shock for a moment and then laughed, lifting Harry up. Lexie smiled and wrapped an arm around Harry as well until they were all three dancing together. Harry wrapped an arm around both of their necks, relishing this moment of happiness. He had never danced like this with anyone before. It was really nice.

Mrs. Weasley brought Rozzie over and Sirius cradled her gently. Lexie took her baby's hand and they all four together danced. It took another moment but then Lexie let go of Rozzie's hand and motioned for Remus to join them. He shook his head.

Well, Lexie wasn't about to have that. She let Sirius hold both of the children and marched across the dance floor. She grabbed hold of Remus's hand and pulled him along behind her. "Remus Lupin, you are just as much a big part of this family as the rest of us and I will not have you ruining my wedding by not dancing with us as a family."

Remus caved. He took Rozzie from Sirius with one arm and laid his other over his best mate's shoulders. Sirius did the same and Lexie placed one arm over Remus's shoulder, the other holding onto half of Harry's weight, her and Sirius's arms making a sort of makeshift chair for the little boy.

And there they danced, a family of five. They may have looked like quite an odd family, but there was something special about odd families. There was never another family like it.

Once the dancing was done, Harry had to eat his lunch of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a side of pickle before it was finally time to cut that wonderfully gigantic cake.

He watched, pickle juice on his fingers, as Sirius and Lexie cut the first slice of cake and then, to his horror, smashed it in each other's faces. How dare they waste such yummy looking cake!?

To his relief though, there was no more cake smashing after that. Sirius handed him the next cut piece, a large delicious slice of cake with plenty of frosting. Harry dug in. If all weddings had cake, well, he was pretty sure he could get used to going to them.

…...

Later that afternoon, after all of the guests had gone home, Harry sat on the foot of his bed watching Sirius pack his little red suitcase. They had all changed out of their party clothes and into things that were much more comfortable.

"Paddy, why are you packing?"

"Well Harry, we've all got to pack for the honey moon."

"The honey moon?"

Sirius paused, looking up at Harry in confusion. "Harry, I thought Moony had already told you about it?"

"Nu-uh." Harry shook his head.

"Well, when people get married, they go on a special trip called a honey moon. It's like that time we went on holiday to the beach last summer." Sirius explained as he packed some shorts into Harry's suitcase.

"Are we going to the beach again?" Harry asked quite excitedly.

"Nope. That's a surprise. You'll have to wait and see when we get there. Okay?"

"Okay." Harry nodded. He really liked surprises, though he kind of did want to know where they were going still. "Paddy, will I like the honey moon?"

"Prongslet, you are going to love it."

* * *

Woohoo, hey guys! Look! Look! Two chapters in under two days. I'm so proud of myself right now. Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I like the way it came out a lot, though parts of it feel rushed, but not at the same time. I'm banking on getting at least fifty chapters into this before it ends, so we've got about three more to go. I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you thought if you have the time or any suggestions or just anything at all! I love hearing from you guys, it really makes my day.

Love as always crocadilians,

S.Q.O.


	48. Fly

Disclaimer: JK Rowling is the shit.

Also, if this is awkwardly spaced, I apologise. I will check and fix it if it is. As I wrote it on my tablet instead of my computer, sometimes when I bring the document into my computer it looks totally fine until it actually posts the chapter. No clue why.

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Forty-Eight: Fly**_

"Paddy, there are a lot of people here." Harry stared curiously, looking around as he hoisted his red school bag onto the conveyer belt Sirius was putting the rest of their carry ons onto. "Are they all going on air planes too?"

"Most of them." Sirius smiled, ruffling Harry's hair and setting down the very manly pink floral baby bag he had hanging from his shoulder. The wedding had been just that morning and now it was nearing dinner time. Harry hadn't quite understood what he had meant when he'd told him they were going to the airport to go on their holiday honey moon as a family, but as soon as he'd mentioned riding on an real live airplane, Harry had just about wet himself in excitement. The little boy was still bouncing on the balls of his feet, though, after a long day of a lot of awesome stuff happening, his bouncing had slowed down to more of a subdued rocking.

They got through security pretty quickly, Remus lugging along the folded baby stroller, his carry on, and Lexie's carry on while Lexie toted the baby. They had gotten to go ahead to take Rozzie on a plane from her main Healer who had said she was in perfect health and had been since her stay in the hospital. If anything came up though, Lexie was prepared for it with a special emergency pack that contained everything she would need. She was a Healer after all and perfectly capable to diagnosing her own daughter if need be.

Once through security, Harry put his bag back on his back. Sirius, sensing that getting through the crowd with a four almost five year old walking would be difficult and not wanting to lose Harry, set his own small suitcase down and pulled out the long handle that was used to drag it along behind him on the floor. He lifted Harry up and set him down on top of the case facing the handle, much to the little boy's delight.

"Hold on tight now."

Harry nodded and gripped the handle just as Sirius grabbed hold of the other end and began walking. The suitcase tilted forward, Harry's toes dragging slightly along the floor, but not really causing any slow down. He laughed, throwing his head back and watching the people in the airport go by, some of them spotting him and smiling. It was hard not to smile when you were watching an obviously joyful little boy ride along on his dad's suitcase.

"Muma-Lexie, look at me!"

Lexie turned around and burst out laughing. "Sirius, you crazy man."

"That is brilliant!" Another man going in the same direction with a similar sized suitcase and child remarked. "Hey honey, want to ride on daddy's suitcase?"

Harry waved at the little girl and she waved back as she was hoisted onto her own father's suitcase before they disappeared in the crowd.

"Sometimes it pays to think like a Marauder." Remus grinned causing Lexie to laugh even harder.

"Marauder. It's been so long since I've heard that term. I still can't believe you guys still use that silly name you came up with in first year."

"Marauders, Marauders! Hide your daughters! Mega romancers, graceful dancers, make em ours without any entrancers!" Sirius chanted, starting to skip instead of walk. Remus chortled and they locked arms, skipping together now. "Padfoot, Prongslet, and Moony, gonna make the girls get swoony! Extra charm and super handsome, never stop our perfect man-some!"

"Marauders! Marauders!" Harry added, pumping one fist in the air while he held on tightly with the other one. He wasn't entirely sure what they were on about, but it was always fun when Padfoot and Moony were acting positively silly.

"Honestly, you three! People are staring." Lexie stated, but she was still laughing as well, hurrying to keep up with them while Rozzie started to fuss in the sling she was being carried in. Mrs. Weasley had sewn it for Lexie out of some strong pink fabric so that it just slipped over her head and formed a sort of secure baby hammock-pocket. Rozzie was swaddled, placed into the pocket that was just big enough for her body without covering her head. It kept her nice and close to Lexie's chest, the fabric stretchy enough to be comfortable, but sturdy enough to hold her up.

"Marauderettes! Marauderettes! The finest girls, you can bet!" Sirius chimed, grinning at Lexie and letting go of Remus's arm to hug her as they walked.

Finally arriving at the proper gate but having a bit of time before they had to board, the family sat down, resting near the windows that looked out on the large black top. Harry stood on his knees, backwards in his chair, face and hands pressed against the glass as he watched three large planes. One was leaving, one was coming in, and the last one was stationary.

"Paddy, Muma-Lexie, Moony! Look at all the airplanes!"

"Yes Harry, I see them. Aren't they fantastic?"

"Mhm!" Harry nodded, beaming as he turned to look up at his godfather. "But, Paddy, if we're flying', why didn't we just take your motorbike or brooms or Floo?"

Sirius placed a finger to his lips, looking around and hoping no Muggles had heard him. No one was looking, so that was good. Thankfully, Harry was small enough that weird ideas would just sounds like the jabberings of a little boy with a good imagination to the average Muggle. However, it was none to early to remind him that he had to be careful not to mention magical things when they were out among Muggles. He knew very well not to at school or the day care, but sometimes he follied up when they were out in the Muggle world.

Harry quickly covered his mouth with his hands, understanding why Sirius was telling him to shush. He looked around, and once Sirius smiled, he knew it was safe. No one had heard him. "Sorry Paddy. I forgetted."

"Forgot." Lexie corrected, reaching out one hand to gently swipe Harry's hair back reassuringly. There was no harm done. "We're taking a plane because we're going farther than those things can reach."

"And we thought you might like to have a ride on an airplane." Sirius admitted. They probably could have figured out a way to Floo to where they were going, but where was the fun in that? None of them except for Lexie had been on an airplane before and were quite looking forward to it.

"I think that's a very good idea." Harry nodded. He felt very happy and excited that he was going to get to go on an airplane. He loved all sorts of different types of transportation. So far he'd been in cars, in the sidecar of Sirius's motorbike, on his toy broom, on a flying horse, and on a train. He was really looking forward to flying on a plane since flying was one of his very favorite ways to travel.

After watching the planes outside for a little bit, Harry leaned over and peeked into the sling containing Rozzie. Her eyes were open, staring blankly upwards without seeing anything, still baby blue in color. He was quite used to this now, though it had weirded him out at first to see her looking at nothing. She was still and Harry could tell she was listening to the sounds of the airport around them. He closed his own eyes and listened. It was interesting hearing things you couldn't see. He opened his eyes back up and bent down to give Rozzie a kiss on her nose.

"Hey Rozzie, you hear that? That's all the people walking around and talking. There's lotsa people in here cause we're at the airport waiting to get on a real live airplane!" He explained, reaching out to take one of his baby sister's tiny hands. It grasped one of his fingers automatically. "There's a man with a yellow coat walking around with a doggy and it's sniffing everywhere at people. And there's a lady with a cane. And outside there are airplanes and one of them is moving, but the other two aren't cause I think people are getting on them."

Sirius smiled and leaned over to kiss Harry's cheek. He had explained to Harry that while Rozzie couldn't see one of the pictures he had made for her, he could tell her what it looked like. So the little boy had taken it upon himself to start describing the world to his little sister. If she couldn't see it for herself, he damn sure wasn't going to let her miss out on knowing what was going on especially when it was something as exciting as being in an airport for the very first time. Lexie had started doing it first, then Sirius, then Remus, and now Harry had taken it up as well. He liked telling his baby sister all about everything he could see that she couldn't, even if she didn't understand any of it yet, she was only just under two months old after all.

"We are now beginning to board flight 237 to the Canary Islands. All first class passengers , those traveling with young children, or those who need extra help boarding please come forward. We have a full flight today, so if you have any bags you would like to check to help save space in our overhead compartments, please do so now." A lady's voice stated over an intercom.

"That's us." Remus rose from his seat and they all followed suit heading over to join the line of passengers who were the first to get on the plane. Lexie took Harry's hand and they gave the lady their tickets while Sirius and Remus checked the stroller and Sirius's small rolling suitcase. Everything they really needed on the plane were in the baby bag and Harry's backpack. So long as the kids were happy and amused they would be fine.

"Padfoot and Moony will be along in a moment, sweetheart. let's find our seats." Lexie reassured Harry while he turned his head to look back as his two favorite men with a slightly worried look on his face. He looked up at Lexie and nodded. She knew just what to do and say to make him feel better. She was his Muma after all.

Walking down the long hallway, Harry wondered how they were going to get onto the airplane. The ones he had seen outside had doors way too high up to reach without a ladder. But then, suddenly, they were stepping over a slight gap in the floor and a nice lady was smiling at them. Lexie smiled back at her and reached into her purse, pulling out a plastic grocery bag. "I was wondering if you could hand these out to people as they board?"

The flight attendant peeked into the bag and pulled out a small baggy containing a note, a pair of ear plugs, and small chocolate bar. She laughed. "Hi my name is Rozzie and I am two months old. This is my first time on a plane! My family is celebrating my parents' marriage and I am super excited! However, I am still quite small and might get scared of the noises or fussy, so I apologize if I should cry or be too loud. This is the first time I've seen something like this, it's brilliant! I will gladly hand them out."

"Thanks a bunch." Lexie beamed happily while Rozzie squirmed in her sling.

They turned right around a corner and Harry stared. They were on the plane!

Two rows of three seats ran down the entirety of the plane except for first class where there were only two seats in the rows. Harry's mouth gaped open in astonishment as they made their way down the aisle towards the back of the plane. They weren't at the very back but close enough to the lavatory should a certain little boy need to use it in a hurry or a diaper needed changing.

"These are our seats here, Harry." Lexie pointed above them. "See, twenty three C is on your ticket, so you get to sit right next to the window!"

"Wow!" Harry's eyes just about bulged out of his head as he moved into their row of seats. Lexie set her purse down on the seat in the center and helped Harry take off his backpack and store it beneath the seat in front of his so that he could have easy access to it during the flight. "Where are Paddy and Moony sitting?"

"Paddy will sit in this row with you. Moony, Rozzie, and I will be in the row in front of you. You've got to remember though, that there might be someone else sitting in this row on the outside, so you need to use your inside voice and be a big boy, alright?" Lexie explained with a smile just as Sirius and Moony were getting onto the plane and making their way down aisle, each of them carrying a car seat.

Sirius had purposely gotten a seat for each member of their family so that Rozzie didn't have to be held for the entirety of the four hour flight. He had also figured it would be good for Lexie to be by the window so she could nurse the baby in a more private area but also have Moony in the aisle seat in case there was baby bouncing needed. He would be sitting with Harry to help keep the little boy entertained and more at ease since he was the one who could get Harry calmed down the fastest when he was upset.

"Here we are, Harry. You'll be safer and be able to see out the window better if you sit in your car seat." Sirius smiled. Harry stood up and watched as Sirius buckled the seat into place while Remus put Rozzie's into the middle seat of the other row backwards, just like how it was in the car. Lexie moved to place Rozzie into it and took her own seat, turning around to smile back at Harry and Sirius.

"Do I hafta sit in it?" Harry asked, a little disappointed that he would be stuck in his car seat during this trip.

"Well, you have to be buckled in when we take off and when we land and when you're sitting for the most part, but you can get out to go to the bathroom or get something from your bag. Remember, safety first is always the first rule when we do anything, right?"

"Right!" Harry nodded, climbing up into his car seat and allowing himself to be buckled in.

"And what's the second rule?" Sirius asked, deciding this was a good time to go over it again. They had done so in the car on the way to the airport, but it never hurt to have a refresher.

"Don't talk to or go with people I dunno unless you say it's okay."

"Very good! And what happens if someone you don't know picks you up?"

"I scream and kick and bite and hit and act like an angry lion so everyone around me sees. And I shout 'Stranger, stranger!'"

"Awesome! And if you get lost, who are the safe adults?"

"People who work there, police, and firemen. And I stay in one place or go to the closest worker person and tell them your names which are Sirius Black, or Remus Lupin, or Lexie Black." Harry added.

"Very good Harry. Well done."

Harry beamed proudly, glad he had gotten all the answers right. He knew it was important to be safe, especially when they were going places where there would be lots of people around that he didn't know or where it would be easy for him to get lost. That was part of why he was always supposed to hold onto one of his grown-ups' hands or let them carry him.

After sitting for a few more minutes, Harry looked down at his backpack. "Paddy, can Lion sit with me when the plane goes up?" He asked curiously. He was starting to feel a bit nervous about flying and Lion always made him feel better when he was nervous.

"Sure you can." Sirius nodded and bent over to pick up Harry's backpack. It contained a change of clothes in case he had an accident on the plane, some coloring books and crayons, a couple of cars, books to read, and of course, Harry's beloved Lion. Sirius was hoping to get a good solid hour out of the books alone, so long as Moony was the one doing the reading. He always seemed to manage to capture Harry's attention the best with the way he read, adding in all the voices of the characters and knowing just when to whisper or make his voice rise to make the climax of the story even more exciting even if it was just about a t-rex brushing his teeth.

Another major thing that had been packed for Harry to have on the plane were snacks. They would be having a late dinner and if there was one thing grumpier than a bored little boy, it was a hungry one. So, aside from having all of the essentials needed to take care of Rozzie for an entire day, the diaper bag had been filled with all of Harry's favorite to-go treats. From raisins to cookies, treacle tarts and juice boxes, the kid was good to go.

Sirius pulled Lion out from where he sat in the top of the little red backpack and handed him to Harry. Harry smiled happily, hugging his very favoritest toy tightly to him and then bouncing him in his lap by his arms, making Lion dance as excitedly as Harry felt.

"My, what a charming young fellow."

Sirius looked up to find a well dressed gentleman pushing his bag up into the overhead compartment above them before taking a seat next to Sirius. "I dare say we're seat mates today."

"So it appears." Sirius smiled, holding out his hand. If he was going to be sitting next to this guy for the next four hours, it was better to make a good first impression than a rude one. "Sirius."

"Fredrick." The man shook Sirius's hand with a smile. "And who is this lovely little chap?"

"My son, Harry. He's very excited, it's his first time flying."

"Ah, my what an adventure! I remember my first time on an air plane. I was twenty five and headed from this very airport into France, chasing after a woman you see. Never did find her, but ah well. C'est la vie." Fredrick sighed, leaning back in his seat and doing up his buckle. "Ah, but you understand about woman, don't you, Sirius? I assume you have one considering this fine young man here."

"Yes, my wife." Sirius nodded, motioning forward and Lexie turned around. She smiled politely. "And our daughter, and my brother."

"Ah, what a lucky man you are, Sirius! My own wife, rest her soul, was taken from me five years ago. Of course, that was after many years of marriage, six children, and eight grand children of course. They do grow so fast."

"Yes, they do." Sirius nodded, remembering how much Harry had seemed almost a full year ago. He hadn't grown too much physically, though he did weigh the proper amount for a four year old, even if he was still on the bottom of the scale. However, that was due to his natural skinniness and not malnutrition. The amount of growth he had made mentally though… from a little boy who said 'dat' and 'dis' and was so frightened of everyone around him to this much more bold child who could speak more clearly and had learned that not all adults were bad people. He had learned that it was okay to ask questions and make mistakes and how to be a good friend. He wasn't the same scared little boy Sirius had rescued from that cupboard under the stairs.

The airplane was getting pretty full now and Harry couldn't help but to stare as people passed by their row since there wasn't really anything going on outside of the window yet. He liked the window though, it looked just like the windows on the toy airplane he had at home.

"Welcome to flight number 237 from London to the Canary Islands. If everyone could please give their attention to the closest attendant while we go over a few simple things to help make our flight today the safest and most comfortable it can be." A lady's voice stated over the plane's intercom. Harry jumped slightly, having not been expecting that and not being able to see the lady.

"During our flight today it is important to remain seated and buckled in whenever the seat belt light is on. Your seat belts can be fastened by placing one side into the other until you hear the click. Then pull the extra bit of belt until your belt is tight but comfortable against your lap. The belt can be undone by lifting the metal tab and pulling the two pieces apart like so."

Harry strained in his seat to see but Sirius placed a hand on his shoulder shaking his head. Harry hmphed and crossed his arms. He wanted to know what was going on too!

"Emergency exits can be found in the front of the plane, the middle of the plane, and in the back of the place. Please locate the nearest exit to you and remember that it may be behind you. In the event of the cabin losing air pressure, an oxygen mask will come out above your seats. Please put your mask on before helping others do so. Know that even if the bag does not completely inflate, oxygen is flowing and it is important to breathe normally. In the event that we have to make a water landing, there are life jackets beneath your seats but your seat cushion will double as a flotation device. Today our estimated flight time is three hours and forty-seven minutes. We will be serving complimentary drinks and snacks halfway through our flight, however, if you require an extra snack or drink before or after our serving time due to dry throat or low blood sugar, do not be afraid to ask. You can contact any one of our friendly flight attendants with a press of the button above you. If you should have an emergency, please remain seated and press the button three times in quick succession. That is all. I hope you all enjoy flight."

"Paddy! We're moving!" Harry gasped, pointing out the window as the airplane engines started up and they began taxiing their way along towards the runway. Harry leaned forward in his seat to get an even better look out of his window, his eyes wider with wonder. They weren't going very fast yet, but to the little boy, the plane moving was remarkable.

"Yes we are." Sirius chuckled. They hadn't even gotten into the air yet and already Harry seemed to be having the time of his life.

"Look Lion! We're moving! Rozzie, the plane is moving! I can see the ground and the sky going by!" Harry stated loudly, wanting to be sure the baby heard him.

Rozzie was not a happy baby. The sounds of the engine were loud and unfamiliar. She started crying, her whimpers getting louder and louder as the plane got closer to the runway. Lexie placed a hand on her stomach, rubbing and trying to sooth her without having to pull out the lavender oil just yet. Rozzie already had the lemon scented blanket tucked around her in her car seat, but it could only do so much. Hopefully she didn't decide to cry for the whole flight, that would be absolutely awful.

"A is for apple, a-p-p-l-e..." Harry sang out, leaning forward, wanting to help the best he could. Rozzie's crying paused, her body going still as her ears, the one sense she relied on the most, heard the familiar sound of her brother's voice. "B is for blanket, b-l-a-n-k-e-t."

Rozzie hiccupped. Remus turned around and nodded to Harry. "Keep going, it's working."

"C is for cuddle, c-u-d-d-l-e." Harry laughed, singing loud enough for Rozzie to hear him over the engines. People were turning their heads to look now, some of them smiling at sheer adorableness of it.

"Smart boy, you've got there." Fredrick remarked, looking quite impressed as Harry continued his singing and Rozzie remained quiet except for the occasional sigh or burble.

"My daughter is blind and right now she tends to focus more on sounds than anything else. She recognizes Harry's voice the best because it's so different from any adult's and he's spoken to her since before she was born." Sirius explained proudly. "He sings her to sleep just about every single night."

"That is quite remarkable." Fredrick smiled, peering past Sirius to look at Harry who had gotten to M is for Muma.

Harry kept singing as he peered out of the window again. The world was starting to speedup... And then it was a sudden blur and he felt his stomach drop and his heart jump into his throat. They were going upwards! They were in the air now! The ground below was shrinking. "P is for... Paddy! Paddy! We're flying!"

Sirius laughed. "Wow! You're right, we are. That's amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, so excited now. "Rozzie, we're in the air! We're flying up, up, up so high and everything down on the ground looks like tiny ants!"

Harry's hand flew across his coloring book, red crayon in hand as he colored in a fire truck on the tray table in front of him. He had grown bored of looking out the window at all the floating clouds going by in the blue sky a little while ago so Sirius had suggested they get out some of his toys to keep him occupied. "Hey Paddy..."

"Yes Harry?"

"They sky looks upside-down. The clouds are down, not up." Harry remarked curiously, pointing out the window with his crayon. "The plane goes really high cause clouds are really really high!" Or maybe he wasn't too bored with the window so long as he had something else to do when his mind wandered.

"That's right. It's safest for the plane to travel above the clouds out of the line of rain than it is to travel in rain or through clouds."

"Going through clouds looked like fog." Harry remembered from the hour earlier when they had to break through the cloud surface to get above them. The windows had been all white and foggy, just like on early morning fall days at home, except a whole lot more foggy than that. "Why was that, Paddy?"

"Fog is just clouds resting." Sirius laughed, feeling like that was the best answer he could think of. He was a wizard, so they didn't have much use for science beyond the kind used in magic.

"Ooooh!" Harry nodded as though this made all the sense in the world and went back to coloring.

"Hey Sirius, want to take a turn?" Remus asked as he bounced Rozzie up and down standing in the aisle of the airplane where he wouldn't hit his head on the overhead compartments. "Lexie's out cold."

"Sure." Sirius nodded, unbuckling himself and schooching past Fredrick who moved his legs out of the way to let him by easier. Sirius took Lexie from Remus and continued bouncing her and patting her back before she could start whimpering. She'd just been fed and needed to be burped. Remus placed the burp cloth on Sirius's baby clad shoulder.

"Moony, I need to wee." Harry announced, fighting at his car seat straps for a minute before remembering he had to reach down. He pushed his tray further away from himself and clicked the button to release the straps. He lifted them over his head.

"Alright, c'mon then." Remus waited for Harry to make his way past Fredrick before he picked him up so as to get down the aisle with him faster just in case this particular need to wee turned into an emergency need to wee. Harry was better at holding it now, but he still had to occasional accident if he got distracted or didn't run fast enough.

After being quite amused and enchanted by the bathroom and not having an accident, Harry was returned to his seat where he resumed his coloring until he grew bored of that and started asking for food. It was about dinner time after all and the poor kid had not had anything to eat since the wedding cake that afternoon. It had been marvelous cake though.

"Do you want a granola bar, banana, or cookies?" Remus asked. He'd taken Sirius's seat since Sirius had gotten Rozzie to burp, but then needed to take her to the bathroom for a change. Lexie was still asleep due to having been up much too much lately what with the baby and the wedding and Harry... She had plenty of help from the guys of course, but there was only so much a body could take before it crashed.

"Banana." Harry stated after a few moments of deliberation.

Remus smiled and pulled a banana out of the diaper bag, got the peeling started for Harry and handed it to the little boy who managed to demolish it within a couple of minutes. For the next fifteen minutes Harry continued to devour his way through raisins, cookies, and a couple of treacle tarts washed down with a juice box before he was satisfied. At nearly five he was due to have some sort of growth spurt soon. He'd been eating more than usual lately which was a sure sign of that.

The hungry beast inside him temporarily quelled, Harry got Remus to read to him while Sirius took Remus's seat and worked on rocking Rozzie back to sleep.

Only three hours left to go.

Harry held tightly onto the handle of Padfoot's suitcase once more as they walked through their second airport of the day. It was currently eight o'clock at night, well past dinner time. They hadn't changed time zones, so there was no worrying about too much jet lag except for it being about a certain little boy's bedtime and they still hadn't had dinner.

Harry felt sleepy but was also too excited to sleep. The airport looked about the same as the other one but he knew it couldn't be because Sirius said they were going someplace new by flying.

"Okay, so we need to get our bags and then we can figure our how to call a taxi to take us to the hotel." Lexie yawned and pressed the stroller forward. It contained not a baby nor small boy, but her purse, Harry's backpack, and the diaper bag. Rozzie hung in her sling from Sirius this time and Remus pulled along Harry on the suitcase. Lexie had been offered the ease of just carrying the baby, but she had refused saying it was her turn to do some luggage.

By the time the group got out of the airport and onto a side walk where Sirius stood trying to hail a cab, Harry's eyes were beginning to droop. Worried he might fall off the suitcase, Remus traded with Lexie, holding onto the purse and diaper bag while the little boy was set gently in the stroller.

Now extremely comfortable in the stroller that smelt very much like home, Harry yawned and closed his eyes. His head drooped off to the side onto his shoulder and his mouth hung open in a perfect circle as sleep overtook his body.

"Oh, finally." Sirius smiled as a cab pulled up to the curb. He exchanged words with the driver and they packed everything into the trunk. Lexie held onto Harry as they climbed into the back of the car. There was only enough space for the three adults to sit side by side, but that didn't matter much. Both children were small enough to be held in their laps.

It took the cab about fifteen minutes to get them away from the traffic of the airport and down to the resort they were staying at for the next five days. They would be back just in time to celebrate Harry's fifth birthday with all of his friends.

"Oof. He's getting big." Sirius stated as he took Harry from Lexie outside of the hotel, careful not the wake the little boy up. They got inside, checked in, and headed upstairs to the hotel suite they would be staying in for the duration of their holiday.

The suite contained a small kitchen, a living area, and a separate bedroom that held one large double bed. After setting Harry down on the couch, Sirius pulled out his wand and went into the bedroom, toting luggage behind him. "Hey Remus, give me a hand?"

When they were finished, the bedroom had been set up with a second double bed and all of the clothes had been placed away in the dresser. Lexie pulled a shrunken bassinet out of the diaper bag and regrew it until it was the right size. She placed it down beside one of the beds and laid The sleeping Rozzie down in it.

"Muma?" Harry entered the room rubbing at his eyes. He attached himself to Lexie's skirt before raising his arms up above his head. She lifted him up, letting him snuggle up in her arms and bury his face against her shoulder, covered by a curtain of hair. "Muma, I sleep chu?" His speech slurred slightly, unable to enunciate properly in his tired state.

"Sure, Harry." Lexie nodded, rocking him back and forth while humming a little bit. "Let's find your pajamas."

"Mkay." Harry nodded but did not cease his grip around her neck. He went through phases sometimes where he wanted one adult more than the other two. Usually it was Sirius, but there was triggers for when he wanted Remus or Lexie more. Usually he clung to Remus when he was hungry or wanted to be read to. With Lexie, it was typically when he was tired, most likely because she was the softest the rest on.

"Remus and I can kip together." Sirius tugged a pair of Harry's pajamas out of the top drawer of the dresser and handed them off to Lexie. She managed to get Harry to let go of her and sit down on the bed long enough to get him changed, but then he was back out like a fickle light bulb. Lexie got him moved to the left side of the bed so that he could easily see Sirius and Remus if he woke up and then took the right side of the bed beside the bassinet. Rozzie was always on her side of the bed to make night time feedings easier on the both of them.

"No pajamas, Lex?" Sirius laughed, grabbing up his own and changing right there. It didn't matter who saw him, it was only Lexie and Remus.

"Nope." Lexie shook her head and rolled over. Harry snuggled up right against her happily. The two men climbed into the other bed, Sirius on the left so he was closer to Harry if need be.

Remus got changed in the other room and then came back in, joining Sirius in the bed, turning out the light.

"You know, I always imagine my wedding night being a little more energetic and I definitely never imagined I'd be sharing the bed with my best mate instead of my wife."

"I'll pretend to be your wife for tonight then." Remus laughed.

"Oh Remus, I love you so much my beloved!" Sirius cackled, unable to contain himself.

"Oh, Sirius, my heart is all a-flutter!"

"Remus... Oh!"

"Sirius... Ah!" Remus began moving his lips and making kissy noises which made Sirius crack up even further.

"Oh cut it out you two!" Lexie laughed, chucking a pillow at the both of them. In the dark there was a lot of rustling and pillow smacking sounds from the other bed and then a thump as Sirius fell out and hit the floor.

"Sorry. Not tired yet." Remus chuckled and turned the light back on. "Sirius, let's find some dinner."

"To the room service menu!" Sirius rose up off the floor and dashed from the room. Remus followed after him, both of them besides themselves with energy now. Lexie sat up and paused for a moment before she slid out of the bed and joined the men in the other room. The kids were out cold and would be fine for now. Rozzie had eaten, Harry had had a plethora of snacks... Now it was time for the grown ups to have their own feast.

* * *

Yay! Another one! And it's actually quite long for me in general. I'm quite excited about this one, I didn't realize this particular part would be that long. Yay! Anyway, I really hope you liked it, cause I think this is one of my favorite chapters so far, just because it's a bit different from the others in the aspect that they're traveling and actually doing it as a family. I don't know what airplanes were like in 1985, and trust me, I tried to find out, but in the end I got squat and had to go with what I knew based on personal experience instead, I hope it's alright. Please let me know what you thought if you've got the time or want to, it always helps and I adore hearing from you!

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	49. Water

Disclaimner: JK Rowling be a BAMF.

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Forty-Nine: Water**_

Harry's eyes were practically bulging out of his head as he stared up and all around, his little being shaking with excitement.

That morning he had been completely slathered with sun screen and dressed in his red swim trunks, a white t-shirt, and his floppy white beach hat that kept the sun off his face and neck. However, he had been confused when Sirius said they were not going to the beach yet. That would be another day trip, but today they were going someplace super special with water. Now Harry knew where they were and he couldn't believe his eyes.

Bright colorful slides and pools of cerulean water were everywhere. People were everywhere as well, splashing and laughing like they were having the time of their life. It was just like a playground, but with lots of water!

"Well, what do you think, Prongslet?" Padfoot asked, grinning. "It's called a water park."

"Brilliant!" Harry beamed so brightly, jumping up and down, that Sirius laughed.

"Before we do anything though, you need to put this on to be safe." Remus stated, coming over holding a small blue life vest.

"What is it?" Harry asked curiously as Remus helped him take off his shirt and get the vest on, buckling it and adjusting it until it was all the straps were done and tight enough so it wouldn't come off.

"This is a very special floaty. It floats even better than your water wings and will always get your head back up above the water so you can breathe. This way if something happens, not that it will, but if it does, you'll be safe in the water until we can get to you."

"There are lots of people here and lots of water that will be above your head in many places, so safety first, right?" Lexie added with a smile as she bounced Rozzie gently. Rozzie had on her pink baby bathing suit under a teeny tiny little life vest that had an extra bit up by her head to help keep it supported better if she ended up floating by accident.

"What about starting out slowly and getting used to the water?" Remus suggested, pointing over at the lazy river pool where the water would push them along in big round floats.

"Sounds perfect." Sirius nodded and they made their way over. Sirius grabbed a child sized tube with leg holes in the bottom so that Harry could have use of his legs but wouldn't lose the tube while in the pool. Sirius grabbed a normal large tube for himself and tethered it to the handle on Harry's so they could stick together. He placed them in the water and helped Harry into his littler tube.

Harry laughed excitedly, kicking his legs in the warm water as Sirius climbed into his own tube and they began to float along the current of the pool. Remus was right next to them in his own floaty and Lexie and Rozzie were on their other side. Lexie had laid back in her float and rested Rozzie on her chest as they floated along, the little one's feet getting wet in the water that came up and over Lexie's stomach just a tiny bit.

"Paddy! The water is warm like my bath!" Harry remarked happily, his toes skimming the bottom of the pool for a second and then losing traction altogether.

The river went around in a long oval shape, taking them past a small water fall that Sirius steered their tubes under to get them all wet. Lexie avoided the water fall, not wanting to get Rozzie too wet and then have her be cold before they could get back to their towels.

Harry liked the water fall, loving the way it splashed all over him and got him positively soaked. The warm water felt nice on this hot day and he didn't even feel the least bit chilly when they came out from under the water fall.

"Look, Harry!"

Harry turned his attention ahead of them and gasped. There was a tunnel here made out of a bridge that they could go under but people could also walk on to get to the baby pool in the center of the river. Harry looked up as they went under the bridge and saw a couple of kids bout his own age waving down at him. He waved back, laughing, and watched as they ran to get to the other side of the wide bridge. Harry liked going under the bridge. There was a plastic froggy off to one aide blowing bubbles and he laughed, enjoying that.

When they came out from under the bridge on the other side, those two kids were there again, waiting. When they spotted him they waved and Harry waved back again, laughing and popping bubbles as he did so.

They spent a good bit of time in the lazy river, just going round and round until Harry decided he wanted to try something else. So he and Remus, to give some alone time to Sirius and Lexie, left the lazy river and made their way along to the play area for younger children that was nearby one end of the lazy river bridge. Harry waved to Sirius and Lexie as they passed.

The play area was an absolutely wonderful world of color and water. Fountains spurt up out of the ground while children between the ages of baby and seven shrieked with laughter, running through the jets and enjoying watching them shoot up high while the water rained down upon them. Next to the fountains was a large wading pool. It was no deeper than two feet and had many other wonderful things to do. There was a cup station where littler toddlers seemed to be having a blast filling and pouring cups of water. Three bright red arches all connected to one another sat off in the far side of the wading pool. The left arch has a streaming water fall flowing down from inside it, the center arch had a bucket set up on top of it that would fill and then tip when it was full, getting whomever was under it a nice blast of water all over their head. The third arch was similar to the first, only it had jets shooting inwards from it's sides, creating a wall of water that would be fun to run through. In the very center of the pool were three big different sized mushrooms with red tops and white spots. Water flowed down the very top center of their heads, creating round flowing water falls that the children could run under or hide behind. There were also a couple of slides at the edges that went into the water, small enough not to be scary. A playground with swings and play equipment was visible beyond the pool.

It was a preschool water paradise.

Harry let out a natural howl of amazed delight before dashing towards the pool. Remus grabbed him quickly.

"One moment, Harry. We need to go over some rules first." Remus explained gently, knowing that Harry was very excited to go play but also that he needed to remember certain things while doing so.

"Now, first off, you need to stay where I can always see you and answer right away if I call, just like when we're at the playground at school."

"Ok, Moony." Harry nodded.

"And you can play with the other kids, but remember to always be nice and share. No fighting if you can help it. If something happens like that or you get hurt, you come and get me or call for me, alright?"

"Just like the playground!" Harry laughed. These were the same rules they always had at the playground! It was going to be easy to remember how to play here.

"Right! Exactly like at the playground. You also need to stay in this pool or the fountains, but you cannot go anywhere else without me. And no talking to strangers by yourself. Got it?

"Yep!" Harry nodded. He was good at these types of rules.

"Alright. You can go play. I'm going to sit right here at the edge of the pool and watch you."

"Okay, Moony." Harry nodded and whooping, dashed into the pool happily.

Harry didn't know what to do first. Deciding to start at was closest, he wandered over to the bigger of the two little slides. This one was about the same size as the one at the playground at home and it was a swirled tube too. Excited, he climbed to the top and giggled as water rushed around his legs as he sat down. He pushed off and it took him, flying and slippery, down and around and splash! Into the wading pool. Boy that sure was fun!

Harry went down the slide a couple more times, waiting in line behind a couple of other kids who had decided to slide as well. Another little boy, probably about six came dashing over. He waited behind Harry for a moment before seeming to get impatient and pushing past both Harry and the other child. Harry was knocked to the side rather roughly, pushed right on down in the water. His ankle twisted beneath him and the front of it scraped against the slightly rough surface of the pool floor. It was made so little feet didn't go slipping and sliding all over the place, but it also could be harsh if you landed on it wrong,

Harry sat flat on his bottom and looked down through the clear water at his ankle. It was rubbed raw in the front, but it didn't appear to be bleeding. It didn't hurt too bad either.

Standing up, Harry went around to where the slide ended and when the boy who pushed him came out the other end he glared. "Hey! You hurt me!" He pointed down at his ankle, lifting his foot out of the water. As the air hit his injury it began to sting and his eyes widened, oh boy, that did actually hurt!

"You was in the way." The other boy said, sticking out his tongue rudely at Harry.

"You should say sorry." Harry continued to glare, not liking this boy very much. He was mean.

"I dun say sorry to baaaaaaabiiiiies." The boy jeered and laughing, rocketed away in the opposite direction of the slide.

Harry stood there for a moment, perplexed. He had never met another child who was mean and refused to apologize before. Sure, he'd had run ins at school and the daycare, but there was always an adult nearby who stopped the fighting and made apologies happen.

Ankle really stinging now, Harry made his way over to where Moony was sitting and held up his foot.

"Woah, what happened, mate?" Remus asked concernedly. He lifted Harry onto his lap and took hold of his foot so he could get a better look at the little boy's scrape.

"That boy over there pushed me down." Harry stated, pointing to where the boy was now running about over by the fountains. "And he didn't even say sorry when I told him."

"Oh, well that wasn't very nice of him. Well, your ankle looks like it has a bit of road rash, but it's not bleeding so, I think you'll be alright. We can fix it up really well later when we get back to the hotel, okay?"

"Okay." Harry nodded. He knew Moony meant he would magic it better, but there were too many Muggles around right now to do magic. "Look Moony! He did it again!"

Harry pointed over to where the mean boy was terrorizing the children playing by the mushrooms now. He was pushing or pulling them all out from under the mushrooms, trying to take them all for his own. Remus sighed and rose to his feet.

Harry followed after Remus as they entered the pool and wandered over to where the little boy was. Remus crouched down to the boy's height. "Hello there. I couldn't help but notice that you're not playing very nicely with the other children here."

"My mum says I can do whatever I want cause I'm special!" The mean boy stuck out his tongue. "I'm the most specialest boy there ever was, she said so, so I get to do what I want! And I want these mushrooms!"

"Well, I'm sure you are a very special little boy, but all children are special because everyone is different. You can't have the mushrooms all to yourself, that would be mean. This is a place where you play and share and wait your turn, just like at school."

"I'm home schooled!" The boy laughed and then began to shout, "MUMMY! MUMMY! THIS MAN SAYS I CAN'T PLAY HERE!"

A tall blonde woman wearing a blue bikini and carting a two year old on her hip came dashing over. She pulled the mean child towards her, away from Harry and Remus. "What are you doing to my son!?"

"Begging your pardon, but it's what your son is doing to all of the other children. He's pushing and pulling at them and refusing to share. He pushed my boy down and hurt him. He's been terrorizing the other children." Remus explained calmly. He gestured to Harry's scraped up ankle.

"How dare you accuse my sweet baby of anything like that! He is a perfect angel. He would never push or pull or be cruel to the other children unless they started it. Sweetheart, tell mummy what really happened." The woman stated, looking positively livid that Remus could even think that her son could be less than perfect.

"The other kids wasn't letting me play. And that boy pushed me on the slide and hurted my finger." The fake angel held up an obviously find wet little finger and his mother glared at Remus.

"Your child is a hellion! Come my sweetie, let's get you some ice cream to help make your finger feel better, that's it my love."

The woman grabbed hold of her son's hand and led him away towards the ice cream stand. Harry watched, feeling rather dejected.

"Moony, why didn't she believe you?"

"Well, Harry. Some people are blind when it comes to people they love. They don't think they can do anything wrong, but that's not true because everyone does wrong sometimes. However, you don't need to feel bad because you did what you could. What say you we go find Paddy and Muma and Rozzie?"

"Okay." Harry nodded and they left the children's play area and headed back over to the lazy river.

"Harry!" Sirius waved and climbed out of the lazy river, toting his float along behind him. Lexie waved but continued to do laps. Rozzie had fallen asleep, lulled by the movement of the water and she wasn't about to wake her up.

Sirius scooped up Harry and cuddled him close. "Having fun?"

"Yeah, but there was a mean boy, he hurt me and didn't say sorry." Harry stated, pointing down at his poor little ankle.

"Aw, well that wasn't very nice of him." Sirius frowned as Remus told him the rest of the story. He didn't like it when his little boy was behaving nicely and other children treated him poorly. It sounded like they had done all they could to get the boy to apologize though. "We'll, Harry. Why don't you, I, and Remus go down some of the slides before lunch time?"

"Yeah!" Harry whooped excitedly. He squirmed down and, clutching onto Sirius's hand, bounced along in the direction of the water slides. He couldn't go on all of them, he was too small. However, he could go on some of the slower ones with tubes that Sirius or Remus could ride with him in.

They found a slide that Harry could go on and started walking up stairs after stairs, after stairs. They were getting pretty high up! Harry was excited, although the ground was looking pretty far away and it made him a bit nervous. So long as he had his Padfoot and Moony with him, he'd be okay. He clung tightly onto Sirius as they reached the top.

There was a man up on the top, showing people how to get into their tubes and go down the slide. He smiled brightly at Harry.

"Wow, you must be pretty brave to come all the way up here!"

"I am brave." Harry nodded. He had been a lot more outgoing in the past few months than ever before. Why, he had even jumped off one of the swings at the playground last week.

Harry watched as Remus got into his tube, sat down, and waved. "See you at the bottom!" Then he was gone, a yellow tube floating down a blue slide and around a corner.

"Alright, here we go." The man set Harry and Sirius's tube down in the beginning of the slide where the water was pulsing. Sirius climbed in and then held out his arms for Harry.

Harry looked down the slide and then at Padfoot with his silvery grey eyes shining brightly and those strong arms that always, always, kept him safe. Taking a deep breath, Harry stepped into the water and then climbed into Sirius's lap. He leaned back, cradled by Sirius's body and Padfoot wrapped his arms around his little boy tightly. "Here we go, Harry!"

"Ah!" Harry shouted as the tube moved forward and they started down the slide. It wasn't too fast, but to Harry it sure felt fast! He laughed as they went around a corner and got splashed by water. "Hahahaha!"

"Woohoo!" Sirius shouted, his legs dangling out in front of them but not so far that they would hit anything.

Harry hollered excitedly the whole way down, enjoying the wind on his face and the water everywhere. It was simply magnificent! It was also over too soon.

They went around a large corner and the tube dropped down the slide and then fast into a long shallow pool of water.

"Paddy that was so cool!" Harry jumped up and down once Remus had lifted him out of Sirius's lap and set him down on his feet. He had completely forgotten about the sore on his ankle. He was having too much of a blast to remember it. "Let's go again, please?"

"Haha, alright." Sirius laughed. "But this time, you can ride with Moony. He hasn't had a chance to go down with you yet."

"Okay!"

They spent the rest of their day going down slides and splashing about in the wave pool. Lunch was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with ice cream comes for dessert. By the time three o'clock hit, the whole group was worn out and ready to head back to the hotel for a rest before dinner.

"Where're we going?" Harry asked as he gripped tightly one Remus's hand. He, Moony, and Rozzie were giving Sirius and Lexie some alone time for their honey moon today. They wouldn't be gone too long since Rozzie would need to eat again in a couple of hours and she wouldn't take a bottle, but it was plenty of time to go have a bit of fun.

"Right here." Remus pointed to a big sign with a shark on it that was no more than a block away from the hotel. It hadn't taken very much time to get there at all.

Harry stared, still not getting it. Moony laughed and they entered the building. After getting through a short line and getting stickers on their shirts, Moony led Harry along through a pair of big double doors... And then Harry's jaw dropped.

They were standing under a huge tunnel of glass, but that wasn't the most exciting part. Behind the glass, swimming happily through the water there, were hundreds of colorful fish.

"Moony! Moony!" Harry started jumping up and down, pointing and looking all over the place, not sure which fish to look at first. There were so very many of them!

Remus laughed at Harry's excitement and they started walking along the long tunnel. There were other people, mostly with children, here as well. They went slowly, admiring the fish and enjoying the different shapes they were. There were red fish and yellow fish and fish with big bulging eyes. There were blue fish and pink fish and big fish and tiny little fish.

"Rozzie, there are soooo many fishes in here." Harry said when they stopped to watch some particularly interesting fish. Remus sat down on the ledge bench there and Harry climbed up, staring through the glass. "There's a really big blue fish and it's go a big big mouth! And there's a purple fishy and it has teeny tiny fins. Oh!" Harry jumped and backed away from the glass. "I see a shark!"

"Oh wow!" Remus grinned. "I see it too. He's quite magnificent."

"Is he gonna eat the other fishes?" Harry asked concernedly, not wanting anything bad to happen to the other fish.

"Nah. He gets fed a lot so he isn't hungry enough to eat the other fish. Don't worry." Remus promised, patting Harry on he head and admiring the shark as it swam lithely through the water. They watched the shark for a few more minutes before continuing on down the tunnel.

"Moony! Moony! A turtle!" Harry jumped up and down excitedly again, pointing to the giant sea turtle swimming over them. Moony chuckled.

"He is extraordinary."

"Rozzie! There's a big big biiiig turtle swimming! He's green and big and looks so cool!" Harry beamed, swooshing one hand through the air, following after the turtle. He ran over to the glass again and watched as the turtle came down towards the bottom of the giant tank. He seemed to be eating at something and Harry waved to him. "Hi turtle!"

They spent a good bit of time watching the turtle, Harry enjoying him much more than the fish. It took some goading, but eventually Remus managed to lead him away from the turtle and further down the tunnel until they came out of the tunnel and found themselves in a dark room. There were tanks in the walls shaped like cylinders that went up to the ceiling and portholes of glass in the walls.

"Look, Harry. These are sea horses." Remus pointed out one of the cylinders. Harry peered in at the oddly shaped little creatures and laughed.

"Their heads look like horses, but their tails don't!" Harry stated out loud, amused by the sea horses. Next they saw sea stars and piranhas and even a big orange octopus. Harry kept up a running commentary, telling Rozzie all about the different sea creatures he could see. When they got to the jelly fish, Harry watched them float for a moment before deciding what they looked like.

"Rozzie, the jelly fishies are like big squishy bags of snot with dangly things hanging down from their butts. But they're kinda like umbrellas too, but full of goo." Harry stated this so firmly and so thoughtfully, Remus almost laughed. He managed to keep his smile hidden though.

"Harry, we don't talk about butts and snot in public."

"Sorry Moony." Harry grinned up at him, knowing he wasn't in too much trouble. He might be just under five, but he could see the corners of Remus's mouth twitching. His cheeky smile made Remus ruffle his hair and chuckle.

"It's alright, mate. Lets just set a good example for Rozzie, huh?"

"Ok." Harry nodded. He knew it was his job to show Rozzie how to be good and what things were naughty, even if he messed up sometimes. He did try his best to be good, but sometimes he slipped up and went to time out. Like when he'd broken his toy broom flying it in the house.

After the dark room, there was yet another room, but this one was long and had a long waist high tank along one side. People were peering down into the tank and reaching their hands in.

"Harry, look! We can touch little manta rays and tiny sharks." Remus pointed, motioning Harry over to the glass where he lifted him up on a ledge so he could see down into the tank well.

A lady dressed in a maroon aquarium shirt smiled and held up one finger. "You reach in just like this, and you can stroke along their backs but use just your finger and not your whole hand otherwise you might scare them." She explained, reaching into the tank and showing them how she ran one finger along the back of the manta ray.

"Wooow." Harry's eyes bulged excitedly and he extended his pointer finger. "Like this?"

"Just like that! Alright, now go ahead and put your hand in and wait for another ray to come along."

Harry did just that, letting his arm dangle into the water from the elbow down. He watched as a ray came swimming along, and reached just a little further. His finger skimmed along its back as it went by and Harry gasped, pulling his arm up. It dripped and he look up at Remus.

"I did it Moony! I did it!" Harry stated excitedly. He was so very intrigued by the manta rays. He put his arm in the water again and touched five more before he'd had his fill. Remus joined him, also feeling the rays and even one small shark as they swam by.

When they were done at the tank, they washed their hands and arms really well at the sinks nearby. They left the long room and found themselves partially outside, looking through glass at otters.

"Moony! Moony!" Harry laughed, jumping up and down. "Moony, those are otters, just like Hermione has! They're just like Sir Snuggleston de Fluffners, only he's purple and they're brown. Can I ring Hermione later and tell her? Please?"

"Sure you can." Remus laughed, surprised that Harry could remember his friend's otter's full name without any trouble. But then, when you were little, you remembered things that were important to you more than the things that were important to remember. Remembering one of your best friend's favorite toy's name was quite important when you were four.

They enjoyed watching the otters gambol about, Harry giving a play by play to Rozzie. Then they moved onto the seals and watched them play with a floating ball and die in and out of the water.

Last but not least, they found the penguins. Harry thought they were a bit smelly but he did like the way they walked and swam.

"We'll, Harry. That's the last of all the animals and its about time we were heading back to the hotel. Rozzie needs to eat soon or she's going to start to fuss."

"Okay, Moony." Harry nodded and they went through the set of doors that led into the gift shop.

Now, if there is one thing every parent knows. If you end up in the gift shop, you usually leave with either a crying child or a treat.

"Moony!" Harry jumped up and down and then gazed up at Remus, his green eyes hopeful. He usually didn't ask or beg for things that often when they went places, an old ingrained habit from being with the Dursleys. It was typical of him to admire things and occasionally mention that he liked them or thought he might like to have one someday. The only time he'd really been hell bent on something was around Christmas time when he'd been desperate to get a toy golden snitch so he could get even better at Quidditch.

"Well, since you've been so good and because we're on a special trip, I suppose you can pick something out, but nothing too big. And make sure you find something for your sister too." Moony smiled, loving the way Harry's face lit up. He was such a wonderful kid.

"Oh! Thank you, Moony." Harry beamed and jumped up and down. He wasn't sure where to begin, but after a moment he wandered over to the wall of plushies. "Woah! That is a big turtle, Moony." Harry pointed to the large turtle sitting on the floor. It was about five feet long, big enough to use for a chair if you were short.

"Wow, it sure it."

Harry patted the turtle's head gently and then looked at the small stuffed animals. He looked them over for a minute and then laughed, jumping up and down and moving past the turtle to the baby toys. He picked up a rolled up blanket and showed it to Remus. "This for Rozzie?"

"Oh gosh, that is fantastic, Harry." Remus burst out laughing. The blanket was made specially for swaddling with a hood, but it was also shaped like a manta ray. The baby in the picture looked like it was being hugged all around by a manta ray with a smiling face on their head. The inside was pink and the outside was gray, but it was super soft all over. "You always pick out the best presents for Rozzie."

Harry beamed with pride and handed the blanket to Remus to hold onto before bouncing around the shop. He eventually decided upon a plastic turtle that would swim if he put it in water, just like the real big sea turtle. Boy, he sure had enjoyed watching that turtle.

When he brought his choice over to Remus, the older man was looking over them pretty post cards. He smiled. "That's a lovely choice, Harry. Look here, I think I found something even better than just giving Hermione a ring."

Moony held up a post card with the otters they had seen on it. Harry laughed.

"Oh! We can write and show her!" Harry smiled and they picked out other post cards for all of his friends, picking out the creatures he thought they would each like best.

When they got back to the hotel, Harry couldn't stop talking about all the amazing animals he had seen. He told Sirius and Lexie all about the fish, and turtle, and manta rays, and otters.

Sirius laughed brightly at Rozzie's new blanket, wrapping her in it after she had finished her lunch. Harry thought she looked good in it and Lexie couldn't stop cuddling her.

"She's just so precious! Harry, you are the best big brother."

Harry's chest swelled out with pride. "Rozzie couldn't touch the rays, so I thinked she could with that blanket."

"That was very thoughtful of you, Harry." Sirius nodded, proud of his little boy's thinking of his sister the way he did. Most kids would be more selfish or jealous, but not Harry. Well, usually not Harry. Every kid had their moments.

"Paddy, can I have my bath now so I can try my turtle?" Harry asked after a little bit.

"Sure you can." Sirius nodded and they went into the bathroom where they filled up the tub. Harry climbed in, excited, and set his turtle free. It swam about in circles, making him laugh happily. It was a pretty awesome toy.

Later that evening, after they had spent a good bit of time playing in the tub, taking naps(going to the aquarium had really worn Harry and Remus out), Harry displayed some of his less nice brother attitude and more of his sibling rivalry one.

After spending all afternoon in the hotel room, the little boy was getting antsy to go do something. He had been looking out the window and spotted the hotel's fenced in playground. Now, he had been with Moony all morning. He had eaten lunch on Sirius's lap and then had lots of godfather time when playing with his turtle in the tub. He'd even had him when they'd laid down for a nap, Harry wanting to actually use Sirius as a bed like he did sometimes. It reminded him of that first night they had been together again and he liked the way his Paddy's heart beat beneath his ear. It made him feel safe.

Now, he'd had his guy time. He was full of wonderful guy time. Now he wanted some female attention, but, Lexie was once again feeding Rozzie.

"Muma, I think Rozzie is done." Harry stated five minutes into Lexie having picked up the hungry baby. "She thinks we should go to the playground."

"Does she really?" Lexie asked, spotting a possible conflict coming up. She was currently the only one who could feed Rozzie due to her not being good at taking a bottle to eat. She wasn't big enough to switch between the two yet and understand that they contained the same thing yet.

"Yes. She says she's full and thinks just you and me should go play." Harry explained, reaching out one hand to tug at Lexie's.

"Well, Harry, she's only just started eating so I don't think she's quite finished yet. But if you wait a little while longer, than I will gladly take you down to the playground." Lexie explained, kissing Harry on the forehead.

"But... I wanna go now." Harry grumped, crossing his arms and stomping one foot. He was tired of being in the hotel room.

"Harry, I can take you down to the playground." Sirius suggested. He and Remus were playing cards on one of the beds. They had all decided that after one full day at the water park and half of one spent out this morning, they all needed a little chill down time before dinner tonight. They would be going out to a restaurant to eat and that in itself with two small children was quite feat.

"But I want Muma to go with me!" Harry shook his head rapidly.

"Then you need to be patient and wait for Rozzie to finish eating first." Sirius explained, setting the cards down and getting to his feet. He could sense a tantrum coming and wanted to catch it before it occurred. Sometimes when Harry wanted one of them most it was because they were giving attention to Rozzie and he was jealous.

"But she takes forever!" Harry complained, stomping his feet again and clenching his fists. He raised his voice angrily. "I wanna go now! It's my turn with Muma!"

"Harry, no." Sirius reached out, lifting Harry up and carrying him into the bedroom. Harry thrashed about, trying to break free. Sirius shut the bedroom door and set Harry down to sit on the bed in front of him. He held onto him by the sides of his upper arms to keep him from moving away and to keep his attention. It wasn't a hard hold though, just tight enough to keep the little boy in place and from lashing out. Sirius crouched down, getting so he and Harry were the same height. "Harry, you need to calm down."

"But I want to go play on the playground with Lexie!" Harry shouted.

"Harry, you know that Rozzie needs to eat first. I think you may be feeling jealous and that's why you're angry right now." Sirius explained, knowing that Harry didn't always have the proper words for how he was feeling aside from the basic ones. He had to be taught the words for his feelings still when they were newer and the basic ones didn't cover it.

"Jealous?" Harry asked, the new word triggering his interest, though he was still feeling bad.

"Yes. When you feel jealous, it means you feel bad because you want something someone else has that you can't have. Right now you are jealous that Muma is giving Rozzie attention. You want attention from Muma too."

Harry pondered this for a moment. His voice came out normal now, not a shout, but still firm and irritated sounding. "Rozzie always gets lots of attention from Muma."

"That's right, but so do you. Muma loves you very much and loves to give you attention. But, Harry, you have to remember, that sometimes Rozzie needs a little bit more attention at certain times because she's just a baby. She can't feed herself, or change herself, or rock herself yet. It's our job, as her family, to help her do those things. When you were a baby, you needed all those things too."

"I did?" Harry blinked, surprised a bit.

"Yes. All babies do. And you know the only person who can feed Rozzie is Muma because she has Rozzie's Muma-milk. Remember how we talked about Muma-milk?" Sirius asked.

Harry nodded. "Only mummies can make milk cause they has boobs."

Sirius chuckled. If only Lily Potter could hear her son right now. He had called them boobs once in front of Harry, but once was all it took. Lily probably would have preferred him to call them breasts or not call them anything at all, but she wasn't here.

"That's right. But don't say 'boobs'. Anyway, do you think you can be a nice big brother and wait for Rozzie to finish eating before going to the playground since she can't feed herself?"

Harry heaved a sigh. "Waiting is hard."

"Yes it is. You, Moony, and I could go down to the playground now though, and Muma and Rozzie can join us in a little bit. Or you can be patient and wait until she's ready to go. Or you can continue to make a fuss and not go at all."

Harry pondered that over. He definitely didn't want to not be able to go to the playground, so that choice was out. He could try to wait, but then, he really didn't want to wait, but he didn't want to go without Lexie either... "This is hard."

"Yes, sometimes choices are hard." Sirius nodded in understanding. "If you want to wait, you can play cards with me and Moony until Muma is ready."

Harry thought about it for a minute and then nodded. "Okay. I can do that."

"Alright! That is a good solid decision! But, I do want you to apologize to Muma for being rude and yelling."

"Okay, Paddy." Harry sighed. He didn't like having to apologize, but he'd do it if he had to.

They left the bedroom and Sirius pressed Harry forward towards Lexie. Harry sighed again.

"I'm sorry I shouted and was rude." Harry stated, looking down at his feet. "Paddy says that's what jealous feels like."

"It's alright, Harry." Lexie smiled and reached out her free arm to pull him into a hug. "Everyone gets jealous sometimes, but the important thing to remember is to stay calm and use your words to say how you're feeling because the only person who can say how you feel is you."

"I still feel jealous." Harry stated clearly after a moment. "Jealous makes me fusserated with Rozzie."

"Wow, Harry! Nice deduction and using your words." Moony smiled, impressed. He had taught Harry the meaning of being frustrated a few weeks ago. "Do you remember what I told you to do when you're frustrated?"

Harry nodded. "Ask for help and stay calm, don't hit."

"You sure are smart. Here, let's play a game and maybe that will help you be less frustrated while we wait for Rozzie to finish eating." Sirius suggested. Harry climbed up onto the bed for a good game of cards.

By the time it came for them to go to the playground, he was laughing and feeling much better. He was a pretty lucky kid, to have grown ups around who understood how the world worked when he had trouble with it, even if parts of that world were just his own feelings.

The rest of the family honeymoon went swimmingly. They spent one whole day at the beach, soaking up the sun and salty water. On the next day they went on a volcanic tour, Harry learning that some land masses were created by lava cooling and then life growing upon it over many, many years. Their fifth and last day was simple and restful, with fun in the hotel pool and more playground time. Harry was happy when it was time to go home though. He was excited to go on another airplane, and, his birthday was coming right up! He liked their vacation, but he figured he'd rather be home for his birthday, where all of his friends were.

* * *

This one is longer but not as good as I wanted. However, it came out alright. :D I'm super excited because we have only one chapter left in this installment of His Boy. As promised, the first chapter of the second, yet to be named, installment will be posted the same day as the last chapter. I hope you're all as excited as I am! As always, I'd love to hear what you think and if you have any ideas whatsoever for the second installment that you'd like to see, then just let me know and we'll see what happens.

Love always,

S.Q.O.


	50. Birthday

Disclaimer: JK Rowling be awesome.

**His Boy**

_**Chapter Fifty: Birthday**_

Harry bounced excitedly down the stairs wearing his favorite shirt with the Quidditch cape. He wooshed his way into the living room and around the coffee table a couple of times before making his bold entrance into the kitchen through the swinging door. "It is I, Harry, the birthday boy!" He announced, laughing and spinning in a circle now.

"Happy birthday!" Sirius beamed, swooping Harry up into his arms and hugging him closely. He could hardly believe that it had been a whole year now that they had been back together. Last year at this time, Harry was just beginning to learn what it was to have a real family. His speech and pronunciation had been delayed as well as his physical development. Now here he was, a thriving five year old with a whole family who loved him and friends as well. He'd been to preschool. He'd learned about magic, and werewolves, and babies. So many things had happened in the past year, it was hard to believe how short it felt now. It was truly remarkable how much someone could change over the course of just one year alone. "We have your very special birthday breakfast!"

"Oh!" Harry looked excitedly at the table and wriggled down, climbing into his chair with wide eyes. "Train waffles! I remember train waffles!"

Remus laughed, reaching out a hand to ruffle Harry's hair. "That's right. You had them on your birthday last year. You sure have grown since then."

"Mhm!" Harry nodded, his mouth full of bacon. He chewed and swallowed, grinning. "I love train waffles."

"Good morning!" Lexie came into the kitchen carrying Rozzie. She bent down and kissed Harry's head. "Happy birthday, buddy."

"Happy birthday to me." Harry smiled. He was so very excited that it was his birthday. He sat up to give Rozzie a kiss and her mouth moved, babbling slightly but not much. Usually she was pretty quiet unless she was crying, always focusing on the world with her ears.

"So, Harry, we've got a few hours until it's time for your party, but there's something special waiting for you in the back garden after breakfast." Sirius grinned, sitting down to eat at his own waffles.

Harry's eyes widened and he started eating faster, too excited to go slow like he was supposed to. He demolished his entire plate and then slipped out of his chair. "Can I go see now?"

"Go right ahead." Sirius smiled, motioning towards the back door. It was open, the screen door closed but letting in the early morning warmth of what promised to be a hot last day of July.

Harry dashed across the kitchen and pushed through the door. "Woah!" He came running back inside, jumping up and down. "Paddy! Paddy! A trampoline! A trampoline! Can I have a go on it? Oh can I please?"

"Course you can." Sirius laughed. He rose from his chair and he and the other adults and Rozzie followed Harry out the back door. Harry dashed over to the trampoline, climbing up the foam steps to get to the bouncing black part. It wasn't a Muggle one, but a wizarding one with foam padding covered in rainbow colored vinyl all around the edges, blocking the springs from little legs. Mesh netting jutted out from the sides of the foam, creating a safety net ready to catch a wayward jumper. The whole thing was fairly large and set off to the side of the garden, out of the way.

"Oh, take your shoes off Harry!" Remus called.

Harry did as he was told, kicking off his shoes til he was just in his socks. He pulled these off as well and then tossed them off the edge of the trampoline. He went right into the middle and, after a moment of hesitation, jumped. He bounced, up and down, over and over, around and around the trampoline. He flung his arms out, his cape soaring up as he went downwards. He lost his balance a couple of times and laughed as he fell backwards, bouncing on his bottom.

"This! Is! So! Cool!" Harry shouted with each bounce, unable to keep the smile off of his face. He bounced and bounced, his energy too high for him to tire quickly. "Paddy! Come bounce!"

Sirius laughed and took off his shoes. He climbed onto the trampoline and stared bouncing gently next to Harry. Harry wobbled, the extra bouncing setting him off balance and making him land on his knees.

"Harry, stay down and I'll show you something fun. Here, come tothe center." Sirius suggested.

Harry nodded and sat down on his bottom, crossing his legs and schooching to the center of the trampoline. Sirius started bouncing around him. He gave a great big jump. The shock waves of it sent Harry flying upwards in the middle of the trampoline. Harry's mouth flew open and his limbs flung out in surprise before he started laughing.

"Again! Again!"

Sirius bounced Harry up again and then a few more times before they started jumping some more together.

After Harry grew tired from bouncing, he decided he wanted to go up into his tree house for a bit. He could see a lot of things from his tree house and quite enjoyed playing up there by himself sometimes. Though he usually liked to have someone play with him as well.

The tree house was set a nice six feet off the ground, high enough to not be low as Harry grew, but low enough to not be too high if he fell now. Te tree would grow over the years as well, and if the house got too long for Harry's liking, they could always magic it taller. For now though, it was just right.

Harry loved his tree house. He climbed up the rope and wooden slat ladder and through the top door before he pulled the ladder up after him and closed the door. That was a rule he had been taught by Lexie. He had to close the door, that way he couldn't accidentally fall through it.

The inside of the treehouse had been furnished with a small bookcase of books and toys, a table just the right size for Harry and a couple of his friends, and a basket on a rope tied to the railing of the little deck. From the deck there was a slide that could carry Harry down to the ground without him climbing down the ladder. There was plenty for a little boy to do.

"Ahoy!" Harry called from his little deck, a pirate hat upon his head.

"Ahoy!" Sirius called back and dashed towards the tree, pulling up wooden sword he had hidden there in the knothole.

Harry grinned and dashed into the treehouse, grabbed up his own wooden sword and dashed back out to go down the slide. His sword held high, Harry let out a battle cry and raced across the grass towards Sirius. "On guard ye scurvy dog!"

"On guard!" Sirius laughed, raising his own sword out just in time to catch up Harry's slashing. He liked hearing Harry speak pirate, something he had learned from one of the bedtime stories Remus had read to him.

The wooden swords clanked against one another over and over, Sirius moving backwards as Harry moved forward. They ran about the yard, chasing one another around and around. Eventually they ended up back on the trampoline, swords in hand as they pretend fought and bounced at the same time.

"You two are a couple of butters." Lexie commented, but she was smiling as she bounced Rozzie in her lap.

"Aye! But they have left the ship without protection!" Remus shouted from the window of the tree house.

Harry and Sirius looked up, pausing in the fighting for a moment.

"Get him!" Harry bellowed and they dashed off the trampoline and across the yard towards the tree house. They ran round and round the base, now pitted against a common 'enemy' for their 'pirate ship'.

The swords soon went away and the game of pirates turned to one of cops and robbers, Harry making the trampoline the jail. He would bounce upon it whenever possible, and whomever he captured had to bounce him high until they could escape. Lexie couldn't stop laughing as she watched Sirius and Remus bounce Harry dizzy and run off like a pair of mad men. While Harry regained his balance to run after them.

After spending all morning running about the back garden. Lexie called the boys into the house to come help her get Harry's birthday party lunch set up. Their guests would be arriving soon.

Harry happily carried a bowl full of grapes to the table set up outside. They were going to just have food set out for whoever was hungry instead of a regular sit down meal, except for the cake of course. They would do that all together at the right time. All of Harry's friends were coming, including some Muggles from the daycare. All of the wizarding folk who would be in attendance had all been notified ahead of time so that it would be easier to keep the magic a secret, especially if it was accidental by one of the children.

Harry laughed brightly, looking around the backyard. In the time it had taken for him to go inside and help Lexie wash a bowl of grapes, the garden had been decorated with streamers in shining red and gold and balloons in all different colors, tethered down to table legs, the fence, or the tree.

Sirius and Remus grinned brightly as Harry ran toward them, his arms outstretched, black hair flying in the wind as he joyfully was scooped up by Sirius.

"Do you like your decorations, Prongslet?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, hugging Sirius tightly round the neck before squirming to be let down. He laughed and spun in a circle before racing over to the small shed in the corner where they kept most of the outdoor toys. The doors of it were open and inviting. "Let's get stuff for everyone to play with!"

"That's a fantastic idea Harry." Remus remarked, glad for the generosity of the little boy. Not being allowed to share for three middle years of his life had made Harry all the more apt to want to. However, it was much easier for him to share his toys or food than it was for him to share a person or his absolute favorite things, like Lion.

They raided the shed and pulled out plenty of toys. Frisbees, a couple of wiffle balls and a bat, the croquet set, a football, some skipping ropes, and a hula hoop. Once food had been eaten they would get out the water pistols and balloons, knowing it would be better to have the water fight in the hot heat of the afternoon.

"Harry! Happy birthday!"

Harry glanced up from where he was setting down the croquet balls and burst into a smile. He waved and rushed over to the gaggle of Weasleys, very excited to see them. He was hugged by Mrs. Weasley and Ginny and then clapped on the back by all the men, a happy birthday from all of them each time.

"Now we're both five!" Ronnie stated excitedly as he put an arm around his best mate's shoulders.

"Yep!" Harry laughed, reaching and hugging his friend happily.

"Harry! Ronnie!"

Harry turned and looked at the doorway to the kitchen. Hermione stood there wearing a blue party dress topped off with her favorite fairy wings. Harry's face burst into a huge smile. He and Ronnie looked at each other and then they ran straight for her out of pure excitement. They hadn't seen her properly since Christmas.

"Hermione!"

"'mione!"

They caught her up in a four armed hug, very happy.

"Hermione, I didn't know if you was coming." Harry stated as they jumped up and down, unable to contain themselves. A birthday party was always very exciting in general, especially when you got to see your friends.

"Well, I couldn't very well miss your birthday." Hermione beamed, just as excited as the boys were. "I haven't been able to come play for a long time because of ballet, and my other activities. I think Mummy and Daddy want me to make friends at my school because I have an activity almost every single day that I've got to go to but all the other children seem to think I'm quite strange."

"They're just jealous 'cause you're smarter than them." Harry remarked boldly, causing Hermione to smile brightly.

"Who else is coming?"

"Lots of people!" Harry bounced on the balls of his feet, looking around. "Luna and Neville. And some of my school friends, Marny and Sebastian and some other kids from the daycare. You'll like them, they're nice."

"Oh goody!" Hermione grinned.

Once everyone had arrived at the party and wished Harry a very happy birthday, they spread out all over the garden, playing all sorts of games and having a blast. Hermione and Marny took a shine to each other, sitting down in the grass with Luna and Ginny to make pasta necklaces. Harry, Ronnie, Neville, and Sebastian headed up into Harry's tree house to play pirates with the toy wooden swords in there.

"Have you noticed yet?" Remus asked Sirius as he handed him a cup of punch. He pointed to the two groups of children. "Girls. Boys."

"Huh. That's strange. Normally they're all bunched together."

"They're at that age." Remarked Diane, Marny's mother. "I remember when Natalie was that small. She used to play with girls and boys, no problem, but somewhere between nursery school and first year at primary, the genders separated themselves. One of the teachers I asked about it referred to it as the 'Cootie Age'. You know, where they think if you play with the opposite sex you'll get cooties or so they're told by their peers. That, and they just don't have as many of the same interests anymore."

"That's sad." Sirius heaved a sigh. He knew how much Harry enjoyed playing with his girl friends just as much as playing with his boy friends, but it seemed those times would be fading soon. Of course, he would encourage Harry to be friends with all of his classmates, but he could not force him to do so.

"ATTACK!" Marny shouted, raising her pasta necklace in the air before slipping it down over her head. She and the other three girls raced at the tree house ladder and started up it before the boys could pull it in.

"However, I think we'll be okay for now." Remus chuckled.

The girls got into the tree house and the boys came barreling down the slide, their swords in hand as they raced about. The girls followed them down, each with their own sword as well. Sirius had made sure to duplicate a bunch just in case something like this happened, although he wasn't expecting it to be so much of a boys versus girls thing.

They watched the children race about, swords clashing, voices laughing as they tackled one another playfully down. Harry managed to capture Ginny for a moment, but she got loose again, pealing with laughter as she raced away, Harry hot on her heels.

"I'mma get you Ginny Weasley!" Harry shouted, his sword raised. He liked chasing Ginny, watching her long red hair whip out behind her like a flag of color in the sun. He'd always liked her hair though, from the first time he'd seen her last August and she'd come running across the grass bare footed like she was now. Shoes were optional when it was summer time and you were a Weasley. That was something any little boy could admire.

"Not if I get you first!" Marny pelted her entire body at Harry, tackling him down in the grass. Both of them laughed and then Neville came running to the rescue, tackling Marny. Soon there was a dog pile of children rolling about in the grass, chuckling and unable to stop, their wooden swords forgotten.

"Hey Harry, can we try your trampoline?" Sebastian asked, pointing over to the bouncing thing of gorgeousness.

"Sure." Harry nodded. He had had a blast on the trampoline that morning and was sure his friends would too. "But we gotta ask my Paddy first, that's the rule."

"Okay."

They gaggle of children raced across the lawn towards the adults and jumping up and down, pointing, managed to get their idea across.

"Alright, alright." Sirius laughed. "But only four at a time. Let's see, how about Sebastian, Neville, Luna, and Ginny take the first bounce? Then Harry, Ronnie, Hermione, and Marny can have the second." He suggested, pairing up the children he thought would do beast with one another. There was a bit of disagreement in the second group, mostly from Ronnie and Marny. "Everyone will get a turn so long as their patient. Your first four head over to Remus and he'll help you out. You other four though… how about you come have a snack since it's about lunch time?"

"Food!" Ronnie cheered and the second group dashed over to the table set up with all the snacked while the first group went over to the trampoline.

Harry grabbed a plate and some of the cut up grapes before he sat down on the grass with his friends to eat.

"This is a really fun party, Harry." Ronnie remarked as he picked up a piece of cut up hot dog. Lexie was always cutting things up lately. Hot dogs and grapes were choking hazards, but perfectly fine when cut.

"Thanks Ronnie." Harry smiled, glad his friends were having fun. He knew he sure was.

When the first group of four was done on the trampoline and herded over to the snack table, Harry, Ronnie, Hermione, and Marny all paraded over to the bouncing fun time toy. Marny and Hermione removed their shoes and socks, both of the boys already barefoot, and then all four of them clambered up onto the trampoline.

"Like this!" Harry gave a great jump and he bounced upwards, sending the other three wobbling for their balance. When all four of them started bouncing though, they were everywhere. It turned out, that bouncing with more than one person on the trampoline was a lot harder and someone was always making you fall down onto you bottom. However, it was quite fun as well to accidentally fall onto one's bottom when you weren't expecting it right at that moment.

A bit later, once everyone had had their fill of trampoline time and it was getting further into the afternoon, Lexie came out of the house carrying Harry's large birthday cake. It was shaped like a train and had the candles stuck into the whistle so that it looked almost like it was really steaming. The adults worked to gather all of the children up and then they all took seats on blankets on the grass, ready to watch Harry blow out his candles.

"Come here, Prongslet." Sirius beamed, lifting Harry up onto a chair behind the cake so that everyone could see him. He grinned brightly as the candles were lit by Moony and everyone started to sing. Never in his entire life had he had so many people around him, celebrating with him this very special day that was all his own. He felt his little being swell with the love surrounding him and he closed his eyes, wishing really hard to always stay with his family and maybe a new broomstick if he were allowed more than one wish. And then, he blew.

The candles went out and everyone cheered before Sirius cut into the cake and started handing out pieces, until everyone had one. As they ate, Harry opened the presents everyone had brought him. Sweets from the Weasleys, a new book about teeth from Hermione. A puzzle, a board game, some toy cars, and a wide variety of other things five year old boys liked. Hagrid had even brought him a lovely kaleidoscope carved out of real wood with different gems to set in the end containing fairy dust, dragon scales, unicorn hair, and glow bug goo.

Harry said thank you every time he opened something, beaming and grateful. He had never had so many birthday presents in his life!

Once cake and presents were done with, the food table was brought inside out of the way along with most of Harry's new toys. He would have shared them right away with all his friends, but there would be time for that later… after the water war.

Everyone had come wearing bathing suits under their clothes, so changing was no hassle. All the clothes were safely deposited into an empty hamper and set in the kitchen where they wouldn't get wet. Then Sirius brought out the water guns and balloons while Remus turned on the back garden's sprinklers.

Water shot up out of the grass and the pealing laughter of children sounded, bright and happy and thrilled as they were all splashed with the cold water. Guns and balloons were handed out and with a battle cry from Fred and George, the war began.

"AI-YAI-YAI-YAI!" The twins banged on their chests and raced across the yard, guns held in their hands.

Water balloons flew in every direction. Those who didn't want to get wet retreated to the safety of the living room to drink coffee and coo over baby Rozzie, though neither of her parents were currently there and she was in the care of Neville's grandmother who didn't seem to be able to get enough of her.

Lexie shot a well aimed water balloon at Sirius who got it right in the chest. He chased after her, his feet kicking up loose strands of wet grass from yesterday's mowing until he slipped and went falling backwards to land flat on his back. Lexie laughed and Sirius pushed himself up, shooting off after her once more only to be taken down by a hoard of five year olds with water balloons.

"Ah! Somebody save me!" Sirius cried out, trying to army crawl across the grass as Harry, Ronnie, Hermione, Marny, and Sebastian held onto his legs. Harry let go and climbed onto Sirius's back, hugging onto him from behind. The others let go and Harry sat up, kicking his legs just a little bit and grinning. Sirius pushed up onto his hands and knees and began walking. This had been much easier months ago when Harry had been smaller and he had been a dog. Thinking back on it now, they had gotten exceptionally lucky that day when the Minister of Magic had come to try and take Harry away. Even luckier that the Lovegoods lived only a few miles away. And still, the luckiest of all that he had been able to keep Harry, his sweet little boy, instead of being forced to give him back to the Dursleys or worse, watched him put into a home with someone else, like the Malfoys for instance. Sure, there had been that week long stint of doubt around Valentine's Day when he could have lost Harry to the Malfoys forever, but they had pulled through that as well.

Everything they had been through in the past year had led up to this one moment that they would never get back. Harry, his Harry, on his fifth birthday, hanging onto Sirius's back like he was the most wonderful and fun person there ever was. Sure, there would be other moments like this, similar and just as good, but this moment was the only one of it's kind. It was quite remarkable, really, how far they had come in just this single year alone.

"I've got you, Paddy!" Harry fell forward, hugging around Sirius's neck and nuzzling his nose against his cheek happily. Sirius beamed and spun around to sit down, pulling Harry around off his back and into his lap. He buried his face against Harry's dripping wet hair and kissed his forehead. He looked around the yard. One year and a day ago he had been sitting in the corner of a cell in Azkaban, no longer knowing how long he'd been in there and not seeing any hope of every seeing the sun again. But now the poured down upon him through the water that sprayed up from the sprinklers and people around him laughed joyfully. He watched as Remus swung Hermione up through the air as her brown hair flew out behind her, her face alight with shock at the sudden movement. He saw Ronnie wrestling with Fred and George. Ginny and Luna pressing sticky hands covered in mud to one another's faces. Lexie rocking Rozzie as she sat down beneath a gentle spray of water. And finally, Sirius peered down into those emerald eyes, shining so bright, and that smile that lit up every fiber of his being knowing that he had helped cause the pure unadulterated happiness behind it and that it would get even brighter when Harry found out there was a new toy broomstick waiting in his playroom. Nothing could make this single moment of time in their lives feel any better than it did right at that split second.

"And you always will, Prongslet. You always will."

* * *

Well, that's it you guys. It's done. I'm having an emotional moment right now... I am really, really grateful to all of you who had read and asked for more, I never would have gotten this far on it if it weren't for you guys, so thanks so much! I really hope you have enjoyed reading this story, and particularly this chapter. It didn't come out completely the way I wanted it to, and it was actually finished weeks ago, but I couldn't bring myself to tweak it the way it needed to be before posting it. But now it is and it's complete. Holy crap. I would love to hear what you think of it though! Also, as promised, the second installment will be posted up within the next hour. I am very excited about it, so, go check it out if you wanna see what happens next!

As always, with love,

S.Q.O.


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